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Sunday's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 6 2009
`Turkey's independent foreign policy advantageous to US'
Tüzmen, who was the former state minister for foreign trade, said
there is a much wider range of topics discussed during meetings held
between Turkish and US officials.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman KürÅ?at
Tüzmen has said the independent foreign policy strategy Turkey is
pursuing with neighboring and regional countries benefits the US and
added:
`The peaceful growth of Turkey in the region is to the advantage of
the US, one of the leading countries that is interested in the region.
It is to the benefit of our allies for Turkey to be consulted as a
trusted country as the policy regarding neighboring and regional
countries is being prepared.'
Speaking to Sunday's Zaman about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's
visit to the US upon the invitation of President Barack Obama, Tüzmen,
who is the deputy chairman for the AK Party's foreign affairs, noted
that in addition to trade and economic relations, regional issues
would also be discussed during the visit.
`It is going to be a very important meeting for both Turkey and the US
as well as for countries in the region. A wide range of topics will
come up during the meeting. Regional issues, the evaluation of
sector-related topics from the perspective of foreign trade, Turkey's
current predicament and relations with neighboring and regional
countries may all be included in the meeting,' Tüzmen said.
He talked about the radical changes that had taken place in foreign
trade with the recent strategy that Turkey had implemented, named the
neighboring and regional countries strategy, and said: `Our trade with
neighboring and regional countries was around 7 percent [of total
trade]. In a very short period this figure increased to 49 percent
with the new strategy. The sevenfold increase in our trade [with
neighboring and regional countries], which was around 7 percent just
seven years ago, is very important for the US as well. That is because
Turkey has become a trade partner with countries that are also
important for the US. The inclusion of countries such as Iran, Iraq,
Syria and Russia carries a separate meaning for the US. Turkey's
extraordinary success in the recent period and the improvement of its
credit rating increases the weight of economic aspects in bilateral
relations.'
Regional integration
Turkey conducts close to half of its total foreign trade with
countries in the region, the AK Party deputy chairman said and
contributes to the increase in regional wealth. `Our endeavor includes
regional integration, in other words it includes the product-sharing
model. It is integrative work ranging from what product and service is
best suited to what country to how other countries supplement that
product. What underlies the exportation of finished products from
Turkey to foreign markets is that Turkey is shifting its emerging
sectors to countries that need them. This way not only do they benefit
from cheap labor there, but it also contributes to the country's
workforce. When we add other tools such as free trade agreements,
integrated economic commissions, delegations and fairs, the result is
a regional integration that yields positive result for everyone.'
Tüzmen underlined that each relationship with neighboring countries is
important in different ways and said it was very likely these
relations would be discussed during ErdoÄ?an's visit to the US. Turkey
has made clear that it does not want a nuclear threat in the region
and is pursuing a balanced policy over the issue. Trade with Iran has
increased tenfold in the last seven years, reaching $10 billion. He
pointed out that Turkey's trade with Syria and Iraq, which was less
than half a billion dollars, has increased to around $5 billion and
that Turkey has become an important trade partner with Iran as well as
with Russia, with which it has a trade volume of $50 billion.
Tüzmen said this transformation, which had attracted much attention in
the world, had not been easy and that there have been recent attempts
to make the same unfair criticisms that were directed against the
government when the neighboring and regional countries strategy was
initially implemented. He highlighted that Turkey's historic, cultural
and geographical ties with neighboring and regional countries were
crucial advantages. `We made clear that we could use the common links
with neglected neighboring and regional countries for the development
of Turkey and the region. We were subjected to unfair criticism, but
we did not pay attention to it and within seven years we made sure
this epic was written. This offers important advantages not only for
Turkey and the region but for world peace.'
Tüzmen explained that a discussion over regional problems during the
Obama-ErdoÄ?an meeting would not affect Turkey's regional enhancement
strategy. `Turkey will continue the endeavors it started in the region
for friendship, peace and enhancement. It will adhere to mutual
agreements. If there is a task Turkey is carrying out it will pursue
it to the very end. This goes for all countries. However, while we
improve our trade with neighbors we will not change our stance on the
nuclear threat that poses a danger to humanity. We are saying very
clearly that we do not want a nuclear threat in our region. We are
saying this to all countries. We will repeat this while continuing to
trade because this is very important for us as well. Because the more
trade you do the more you can contribute to peace. We need to continue
to step up foreign trade in order to be powerful and provide a
substantial contribution to friendship and peace.'
He said a request of that nature would be unpleasant considering that
millions of people have been victimized in Azerbaijan, and went on to
say: `We will reach a decision on that issue in line with our own
assessments. We prepared and presented this initiative with sincerity.
Relations with Armenia developed a little differently than relations
with neighboring and surrounding countries. While generally a
bottom-up strategy starting with trade and then diplomacy was
followed, with Armenia a top-down strategy was followed. It was an
endeavor that began with steps taken by our president and prime
minister. The common point in both strategies is solving current
problems and looking ahead.'
06 December 2009, Sunday
ALÄ° ASLAN KILIÃ? ANKARA
Dec 6 2009
`Turkey's independent foreign policy advantageous to US'
Tüzmen, who was the former state minister for foreign trade, said
there is a much wider range of topics discussed during meetings held
between Turkish and US officials.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman KürÅ?at
Tüzmen has said the independent foreign policy strategy Turkey is
pursuing with neighboring and regional countries benefits the US and
added:
`The peaceful growth of Turkey in the region is to the advantage of
the US, one of the leading countries that is interested in the region.
It is to the benefit of our allies for Turkey to be consulted as a
trusted country as the policy regarding neighboring and regional
countries is being prepared.'
Speaking to Sunday's Zaman about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's
visit to the US upon the invitation of President Barack Obama, Tüzmen,
who is the deputy chairman for the AK Party's foreign affairs, noted
that in addition to trade and economic relations, regional issues
would also be discussed during the visit.
`It is going to be a very important meeting for both Turkey and the US
as well as for countries in the region. A wide range of topics will
come up during the meeting. Regional issues, the evaluation of
sector-related topics from the perspective of foreign trade, Turkey's
current predicament and relations with neighboring and regional
countries may all be included in the meeting,' Tüzmen said.
He talked about the radical changes that had taken place in foreign
trade with the recent strategy that Turkey had implemented, named the
neighboring and regional countries strategy, and said: `Our trade with
neighboring and regional countries was around 7 percent [of total
trade]. In a very short period this figure increased to 49 percent
with the new strategy. The sevenfold increase in our trade [with
neighboring and regional countries], which was around 7 percent just
seven years ago, is very important for the US as well. That is because
Turkey has become a trade partner with countries that are also
important for the US. The inclusion of countries such as Iran, Iraq,
Syria and Russia carries a separate meaning for the US. Turkey's
extraordinary success in the recent period and the improvement of its
credit rating increases the weight of economic aspects in bilateral
relations.'
Regional integration
Turkey conducts close to half of its total foreign trade with
countries in the region, the AK Party deputy chairman said and
contributes to the increase in regional wealth. `Our endeavor includes
regional integration, in other words it includes the product-sharing
model. It is integrative work ranging from what product and service is
best suited to what country to how other countries supplement that
product. What underlies the exportation of finished products from
Turkey to foreign markets is that Turkey is shifting its emerging
sectors to countries that need them. This way not only do they benefit
from cheap labor there, but it also contributes to the country's
workforce. When we add other tools such as free trade agreements,
integrated economic commissions, delegations and fairs, the result is
a regional integration that yields positive result for everyone.'
Tüzmen underlined that each relationship with neighboring countries is
important in different ways and said it was very likely these
relations would be discussed during ErdoÄ?an's visit to the US. Turkey
has made clear that it does not want a nuclear threat in the region
and is pursuing a balanced policy over the issue. Trade with Iran has
increased tenfold in the last seven years, reaching $10 billion. He
pointed out that Turkey's trade with Syria and Iraq, which was less
than half a billion dollars, has increased to around $5 billion and
that Turkey has become an important trade partner with Iran as well as
with Russia, with which it has a trade volume of $50 billion.
Tüzmen said this transformation, which had attracted much attention in
the world, had not been easy and that there have been recent attempts
to make the same unfair criticisms that were directed against the
government when the neighboring and regional countries strategy was
initially implemented. He highlighted that Turkey's historic, cultural
and geographical ties with neighboring and regional countries were
crucial advantages. `We made clear that we could use the common links
with neglected neighboring and regional countries for the development
of Turkey and the region. We were subjected to unfair criticism, but
we did not pay attention to it and within seven years we made sure
this epic was written. This offers important advantages not only for
Turkey and the region but for world peace.'
Tüzmen explained that a discussion over regional problems during the
Obama-ErdoÄ?an meeting would not affect Turkey's regional enhancement
strategy. `Turkey will continue the endeavors it started in the region
for friendship, peace and enhancement. It will adhere to mutual
agreements. If there is a task Turkey is carrying out it will pursue
it to the very end. This goes for all countries. However, while we
improve our trade with neighbors we will not change our stance on the
nuclear threat that poses a danger to humanity. We are saying very
clearly that we do not want a nuclear threat in our region. We are
saying this to all countries. We will repeat this while continuing to
trade because this is very important for us as well. Because the more
trade you do the more you can contribute to peace. We need to continue
to step up foreign trade in order to be powerful and provide a
substantial contribution to friendship and peace.'
He said a request of that nature would be unpleasant considering that
millions of people have been victimized in Azerbaijan, and went on to
say: `We will reach a decision on that issue in line with our own
assessments. We prepared and presented this initiative with sincerity.
Relations with Armenia developed a little differently than relations
with neighboring and surrounding countries. While generally a
bottom-up strategy starting with trade and then diplomacy was
followed, with Armenia a top-down strategy was followed. It was an
endeavor that began with steps taken by our president and prime
minister. The common point in both strategies is solving current
problems and looking ahead.'
06 December 2009, Sunday
ALÄ° ASLAN KILIÃ? ANKARA