Tweet
Turkey is challenged on multiple fronts: PKK, ISIS and Cyprus
Friday, 17 October 2014
Sinem Cengiz
Turkish foreign policy has been in a state of turbulence for a while
now but is facing the toughest period as the fight in the Kurdish
Syrian border town of Kobane between the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) and the Syrian Kurds intensifies and the countrywide
street protests against the government escalate.
Over the past few years, Turkey has been facing challenges in its
foreign policy from multiple fronts, ranging from Iraq to Syria, Egypt
to Israel, from Armenia to Gulf countries. However, with the recent
developments in Kobane, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and ISIS
have taken the top position in the list of fronts that Ankara is
trying to cope with.
A series of street protests have resulted in the deaths of around 40
people, including police officers. In the past week, such protests
managed to turn the crisis in Kobane from a foreign policy issue into
a domestic policy issue in Turkey. Protesting against the government
for not providing military assistance to the Kurds fighting against
ISIS in Kobane, protestors vandalized the streets in Turkey's eastern
and southeastern provinces.
It was indeed not a coincidence to see Greek Cypriots leaving the
negotiation table while Turkey is challenging serious problems on its
doorsteps
Sinem Cengiz
I feel that the protests may pose a serious risk to Turkey's domestic
stability if they persist and could harm the already fragile ongoing
settlement process aimed at ending the decades-old Kurdish conflict.
Turkey should be careful to prevent a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey
after these protests. Turkey's fight with the PKK, which have a
separatist political agenda and fought with the Turkish army for more
than 30 years before participating in a settlement process with the
government, has claimed about 50,000 lives. The fight between the PKK
and the government has taught several lessons to both sides and the
settlement process to end the conflict was launched with great hopes
in 2012.
The Cyprus issue
At the time while Turkey is facing serious threats from the street
clashes throughout the country and from both ISIS and the PKK, Greek
Cypriots halted peace talks on Tuesday on reunifying the divided
island in protest of Turkey's attempts to search gas and oil in the
divided island.
The Cyprus issue was seemingly the only foreign policy area where
there has been progress; however, the issue now emerged as another
front for Turkey to face in addition to ISIS and the PKK.
It was indeed not a coincidence to see Greek Cypriots leaving the
negotiation table while Turkey is challenging serious problems on its
doorsteps. It was a suitable time for the Greek side to pressure
Turkey at a time when Ankara has focused its efforts on Kobane and the
streets where the impacts of Syrian war are directly felt.
The issue of Cyprus has always been a tough nut for Turkey to crack. A
historic development occurred in February when Greek and Turkish
Cypriots resumed peace talks after a nearly two-year hiatus; however
no progress has been made in talks due to disagreement on deeply
divisive issues. Cyprus has been divided between the Greek Cypriot
south and the Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkey sent
troops to the island in the aftermath of a coup that sought to unite
the island with Greece. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC)
is recognized only by Turkey, which does not recognize the Greek
Cypriot administration.
The suspension of talks, which was denounced by Turkey, is a setback
for U.N.-mediated negotiations. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt
ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu stated in a recent interview that Greek Cyprus
administration was insincere in its approach to negotiations and that
they left the negotiation table by using the natural gas survey as a
pretext. `However, if this subject continues to be seen as a domestic
political material for both Greek Cyprus and Greece, making progress
will be challenging,' added ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu.
Cyprus and the PKK are the two ongoing problems of Turkey. Turkey has
been dealing with the Cyprus issue for 40 years, while with the PKK
for 30 years. From time to time, the problems affected Turkey's
relations with the European Union and the U.S.
Indeed, Turkey and the whole region would benefit from a settlement on
the both issues because the risk of the escalation of these two
problems simultaneously may provoke Turkey's insecurities and lead to
domestic chaos. The main task for Turkey is to secure the peace talks
with both the Kurdish side and the Greek side; but how this task will
be handled is still in question.
__________________________
Sinem Cengiz is an Ankara-based Diplomatic Correspondent for Today's
Zaman Newspaper, which is the best-selling and the most circulated
English daily in Turkey. Born and lived in Kuwait, Cengiz focuses
mainly on issues regarding Middle East and Turkey's relations with the
region. Cengiz is also a blogger at Today's Zaman's blog section where
she provides fresh and unusual accounts of what's going on in Ankara's
corridors of power. She can be found on Twitter: @SinemCngz
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2014/10/17/Turkey-is-challenged-on-multiple-fronts-PKK-ISIS-and-Cyprus.html
From: A. Papazian
Friday, 17 October 2014
Sinem Cengiz
Turkish foreign policy has been in a state of turbulence for a while
now but is facing the toughest period as the fight in the Kurdish
Syrian border town of Kobane between the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) and the Syrian Kurds intensifies and the countrywide
street protests against the government escalate.
Over the past few years, Turkey has been facing challenges in its
foreign policy from multiple fronts, ranging from Iraq to Syria, Egypt
to Israel, from Armenia to Gulf countries. However, with the recent
developments in Kobane, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and ISIS
have taken the top position in the list of fronts that Ankara is
trying to cope with.
A series of street protests have resulted in the deaths of around 40
people, including police officers. In the past week, such protests
managed to turn the crisis in Kobane from a foreign policy issue into
a domestic policy issue in Turkey. Protesting against the government
for not providing military assistance to the Kurds fighting against
ISIS in Kobane, protestors vandalized the streets in Turkey's eastern
and southeastern provinces.
It was indeed not a coincidence to see Greek Cypriots leaving the
negotiation table while Turkey is challenging serious problems on its
doorsteps
Sinem Cengiz
I feel that the protests may pose a serious risk to Turkey's domestic
stability if they persist and could harm the already fragile ongoing
settlement process aimed at ending the decades-old Kurdish conflict.
Turkey should be careful to prevent a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey
after these protests. Turkey's fight with the PKK, which have a
separatist political agenda and fought with the Turkish army for more
than 30 years before participating in a settlement process with the
government, has claimed about 50,000 lives. The fight between the PKK
and the government has taught several lessons to both sides and the
settlement process to end the conflict was launched with great hopes
in 2012.
The Cyprus issue
At the time while Turkey is facing serious threats from the street
clashes throughout the country and from both ISIS and the PKK, Greek
Cypriots halted peace talks on Tuesday on reunifying the divided
island in protest of Turkey's attempts to search gas and oil in the
divided island.
The Cyprus issue was seemingly the only foreign policy area where
there has been progress; however, the issue now emerged as another
front for Turkey to face in addition to ISIS and the PKK.
It was indeed not a coincidence to see Greek Cypriots leaving the
negotiation table while Turkey is challenging serious problems on its
doorsteps. It was a suitable time for the Greek side to pressure
Turkey at a time when Ankara has focused its efforts on Kobane and the
streets where the impacts of Syrian war are directly felt.
The issue of Cyprus has always been a tough nut for Turkey to crack. A
historic development occurred in February when Greek and Turkish
Cypriots resumed peace talks after a nearly two-year hiatus; however
no progress has been made in talks due to disagreement on deeply
divisive issues. Cyprus has been divided between the Greek Cypriot
south and the Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkey sent
troops to the island in the aftermath of a coup that sought to unite
the island with Greece. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC)
is recognized only by Turkey, which does not recognize the Greek
Cypriot administration.
The suspension of talks, which was denounced by Turkey, is a setback
for U.N.-mediated negotiations. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt
ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu stated in a recent interview that Greek Cyprus
administration was insincere in its approach to negotiations and that
they left the negotiation table by using the natural gas survey as a
pretext. `However, if this subject continues to be seen as a domestic
political material for both Greek Cyprus and Greece, making progress
will be challenging,' added ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu.
Cyprus and the PKK are the two ongoing problems of Turkey. Turkey has
been dealing with the Cyprus issue for 40 years, while with the PKK
for 30 years. From time to time, the problems affected Turkey's
relations with the European Union and the U.S.
Indeed, Turkey and the whole region would benefit from a settlement on
the both issues because the risk of the escalation of these two
problems simultaneously may provoke Turkey's insecurities and lead to
domestic chaos. The main task for Turkey is to secure the peace talks
with both the Kurdish side and the Greek side; but how this task will
be handled is still in question.
__________________________
Sinem Cengiz is an Ankara-based Diplomatic Correspondent for Today's
Zaman Newspaper, which is the best-selling and the most circulated
English daily in Turkey. Born and lived in Kuwait, Cengiz focuses
mainly on issues regarding Middle East and Turkey's relations with the
region. Cengiz is also a blogger at Today's Zaman's blog section where
she provides fresh and unusual accounts of what's going on in Ankara's
corridors of power. She can be found on Twitter: @SinemCngz
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2014/10/17/Turkey-is-challenged-on-multiple-fronts-PKK-ISIS-and-Cyprus.html
From: A. Papazian