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ANKARA: FM Davutoglu: Turkish Foreign Policy Should Not Be Assessed

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  • ANKARA: FM Davutoglu: Turkish Foreign Policy Should Not Be Assessed

    FM DAVUTOGLU: TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD NOT BE ASSESSED FROM A SINGLE FRAME

    Today's Zaman
    Nov 30 2010
    Turkey

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkish foreign
    policy should not be assessed from a single frame; a comprehensive
    process analysis should be made.

    Speaking at US think-tank organization Brookings Institute, Davutoglu
    said that the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party tried to
    strengthen democracy, adding that they took NATO and the EU as
    references. He noted that political restoration could not reach a
    success without economic restoration.

    Turkey, with its new foreign policy, developed relations with all of
    its neighbors, said Davutoglu, and gave Turkish-Greek relations as
    an example. Davutoglu said that Turkey and Greece had signed only
    35 agreements throughout their 87-year-old relations, but the two
    countries signed 22 agreements only in a single day in May, 2010.

    Noting that Turkey paid the price of instability or chaos milieu in
    surrounding regions, Davutoglu said that it was necessary to strengthen
    the peace and stability in the region, thus, Turkey should pursue an
    active foreign policy.

    We don't want sanctions, isolations, commercial and visa limitations
    in our region, he said.

    Noting that Turkey had a foreign policy based on regional and global
    peace, Davutoglu said that Turkey would not be a side of any clash,
    but be a pawn of peace.

    Upon a question, Davutoglu said that Turkey would not have any
    uneasiness regarding the announcement of Wikileaks documents because
    Turkey's foreign policy had principles, adding that Turkey was ready
    to open its all archives.

    Regarding Iran, Davutoglu said that Turkey was against proliferation
    of nuclear weapons, and supported peaceful nuclear capacity. He
    repeated that Turkey wanted stability and peace, not sanctions, in
    its region. He said that Turkey was exerting efforts to defend its
    national interest, not Iran or any other country.

    Commenting on Israeli relations, Davutoglu said that Turkey did not
    have any antisemitism stance throughout its history, stressing that
    Turkey's history was very clean in relations with Jews.

    Israel, with its own policies, drew itself away from Turkey, he added.

    Regarding Armenian issue, Davutoglu said that Turks and Armenians had
    lived in peace for centuries, and there had been no tension between the
    two societies neither in Anatolia nor in any other place. He added that
    there were Armenian ministers and ambassadors during Ottoman period.

    Commenting on 1915 incidents, Davutoglu said that "a fair memory"
    was needed. He said that only "a short period of time" should not be
    taken into consideration.

    Noting that Turkey signed the protocols with Armenia based on three
    legs, Davutoglu said that those three legs were; normalization of
    relations between Turkey and Armenia, normalization of relations
    between Turks and Armenians in all places of the world, and bringing
    stability to Caucasus. He added that those three legs should be
    implemented at the same time.

    We are still defending and not give up on the protocols, he said.




    From: A. Papazian
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