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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
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