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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 31 2009
[MAN OF THE YEAR] Turkey's foreign policy transformed as theoretician
Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu takes the helm
The editors of Today's Zaman have selected Foreign Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu as this paper's man of the year for 2009, recognizing the
central role he has played in perhaps the biggest transformation that
Turkey's foreign policy has undergone since its foundation.
The unassuming professor -- appointed as foreign minister on May 1
after serving for six years as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's
chief foreign policy adviser -- is rightly credited with
re-establishing Turkey's role as a pivotal country in its region while
expanding cooperation with the US to a more advanced level of model
partnership and keeping relations with Europe on track despite growing
opposition to Turkey in European countries. Widely recognized as the
man behind Turkey's new proactive stance since 2003, DavutoÄ?lu quit
his behind-the-scenes role in 2009 and became the active chief of
Turkey's dynamic foreign policy. And over time, he proved the skeptics
who feared that the great theoretician could fail to adjust to the
fast-changing reality of global politics very wrong.
DavutoÄ?lu, in fact, proved that he is not only an intellectual
designer but also a successful doer. During the half-year that he has
been in charge of the Foreign Ministry, Turkey signed agreements with
Syria and Iraq to build strategic cooperation, took a landmark step to
normalize relations with Armenia after decades of hostility and moved
forward, albeit slowly, in accession negotiations with the European
Union.
DavutoÄ?lu owes his title not only to his performance as foreign
minister but also to the great deal of controversy surrounding his
name in Turkey as well as in several other corners of the world. His
desire to reinstate Turkey's influence in a vast area covering the
Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East has won him a reputation as
neo-Ottoman, a term DavutoÄ?lu emphatically rejects, and led to
criticism that he wants to pull Turkey away from its traditional
Western orbit to place the country in an Eastern axis.
But for DavutoÄ?lu, efforts to build closer ties with Turkey's Muslim
neighbors in the Middle East do not mean Turkey is giving up on its
decades-old drive to be an integral part of Western institutions, most
notably the European Union. He was once quoted as saying that Turkey
can be European in Europe and Eastern in the East `because we are
both.'
The foreign minister, in fact, is convinced that Turkey's growing
clout in the Middle East will help its bid to become a member of the
EU, rather than complicating it as critics at home and abroad argue.
The EU, under a leadership with long-term vision, will see that a
Turkey with influence in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans
is a great asset in advancing the old continent's interests in the
areas of security, energy and economy. His vision seems to have
reached receptive ears in the Obama administration, which has found in
Turkey a partner to promote US foreign policy goals in the Middle
East, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Its growing influence brought
Turkey an elevated standing in international organizations such as the
United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Under DavutoÄ?lu, Turkey's policy toward its Eastern neighbors seems to
have gone beyond the well-known `zero problems with neighbors'
approach and turned into maximum cooperation and regional integration
-- similar to what formed the basis of the EU in the post-World War II
era. His efforts to reinvigorate ties with the country's Middle
Eastern neighbors that had remained dormant for decades amid mutual
suspicions has removed skepticism toward Turkey as a `Western agent'
and has won Ankara huge sympathy as a regional leader. Ankara is now a
respected promoter of peace in the eyes of Syrians, the Lebanese,
Iraqis and even Iranians.
When confronted by charges of a shift in axis, Turkish leaders assert
that Turkey is part of no axis other than its own. The
multi-dimensional foreign policy was reflected in the field of energy
as well: Turkey signed deals with both the EU and Russia to allow
rival pipelines to cross its territory, boosting its aspirations to
become a hub for regional energy routes.
Since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) first came
to power in 2002, DavutoÄ?lu has clearly shown that he is after a
redefinition of Turkey's role in its region and around the world. His
so-far-successful term at the helm of the Foreign Ministry, a
combination of theory and effective implementation, indicates he is
not just a foreign minister, but a statesman who is most likely to
have a legacy throughout the years to come.
31 December 2009, Thursday
FATMA DEMIRELLI Ä°STANBUL
Dec 31 2009
[MAN OF THE YEAR] Turkey's foreign policy transformed as theoretician
Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu takes the helm
The editors of Today's Zaman have selected Foreign Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu as this paper's man of the year for 2009, recognizing the
central role he has played in perhaps the biggest transformation that
Turkey's foreign policy has undergone since its foundation.
The unassuming professor -- appointed as foreign minister on May 1
after serving for six years as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's
chief foreign policy adviser -- is rightly credited with
re-establishing Turkey's role as a pivotal country in its region while
expanding cooperation with the US to a more advanced level of model
partnership and keeping relations with Europe on track despite growing
opposition to Turkey in European countries. Widely recognized as the
man behind Turkey's new proactive stance since 2003, DavutoÄ?lu quit
his behind-the-scenes role in 2009 and became the active chief of
Turkey's dynamic foreign policy. And over time, he proved the skeptics
who feared that the great theoretician could fail to adjust to the
fast-changing reality of global politics very wrong.
DavutoÄ?lu, in fact, proved that he is not only an intellectual
designer but also a successful doer. During the half-year that he has
been in charge of the Foreign Ministry, Turkey signed agreements with
Syria and Iraq to build strategic cooperation, took a landmark step to
normalize relations with Armenia after decades of hostility and moved
forward, albeit slowly, in accession negotiations with the European
Union.
DavutoÄ?lu owes his title not only to his performance as foreign
minister but also to the great deal of controversy surrounding his
name in Turkey as well as in several other corners of the world. His
desire to reinstate Turkey's influence in a vast area covering the
Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East has won him a reputation as
neo-Ottoman, a term DavutoÄ?lu emphatically rejects, and led to
criticism that he wants to pull Turkey away from its traditional
Western orbit to place the country in an Eastern axis.
But for DavutoÄ?lu, efforts to build closer ties with Turkey's Muslim
neighbors in the Middle East do not mean Turkey is giving up on its
decades-old drive to be an integral part of Western institutions, most
notably the European Union. He was once quoted as saying that Turkey
can be European in Europe and Eastern in the East `because we are
both.'
The foreign minister, in fact, is convinced that Turkey's growing
clout in the Middle East will help its bid to become a member of the
EU, rather than complicating it as critics at home and abroad argue.
The EU, under a leadership with long-term vision, will see that a
Turkey with influence in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans
is a great asset in advancing the old continent's interests in the
areas of security, energy and economy. His vision seems to have
reached receptive ears in the Obama administration, which has found in
Turkey a partner to promote US foreign policy goals in the Middle
East, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Its growing influence brought
Turkey an elevated standing in international organizations such as the
United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Under DavutoÄ?lu, Turkey's policy toward its Eastern neighbors seems to
have gone beyond the well-known `zero problems with neighbors'
approach and turned into maximum cooperation and regional integration
-- similar to what formed the basis of the EU in the post-World War II
era. His efforts to reinvigorate ties with the country's Middle
Eastern neighbors that had remained dormant for decades amid mutual
suspicions has removed skepticism toward Turkey as a `Western agent'
and has won Ankara huge sympathy as a regional leader. Ankara is now a
respected promoter of peace in the eyes of Syrians, the Lebanese,
Iraqis and even Iranians.
When confronted by charges of a shift in axis, Turkish leaders assert
that Turkey is part of no axis other than its own. The
multi-dimensional foreign policy was reflected in the field of energy
as well: Turkey signed deals with both the EU and Russia to allow
rival pipelines to cross its territory, boosting its aspirations to
become a hub for regional energy routes.
Since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) first came
to power in 2002, DavutoÄ?lu has clearly shown that he is after a
redefinition of Turkey's role in its region and around the world. His
so-far-successful term at the helm of the Foreign Ministry, a
combination of theory and effective implementation, indicates he is
not just a foreign minister, but a statesman who is most likely to
have a legacy throughout the years to come.
31 December 2009, Thursday
FATMA DEMIRELLI Ä°STANBUL