Tweet
Does the Moscow-Ankara-Rome Axis Stand a Chance?
WORLD | GULEVICH Vladislav (Ukraine) | 13.09.2010 | 20:42
http://www.strategic-culture.org/rubrics/world.html
Italy Russia Turkey
Turkey dropped Russia from its list of potentially threatening
countries.Largely due to its support for the Kurdish resistance, the
list used to include the USSR and subsequently Russia. As a country
from the US orbit, Turkey was somewhat slow to assess the geopolitical
landscape of the emerging multipolar world, but over the past several
years Ankara started showing increasing interest in Moscow.
Historically, Turkey is a key power in the Mediterranean region which
has for centuries been the scene of geopolitical rivalry. The
Mediterranean Sea is a strategic hub from which control can be
exercised over the coasts of three continents - Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Great Britain, for example, gained a stable position in the
Gibraltar and turned it into a NATO base, thus securing its grip on
the link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The
permanent presence of the US Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and a
network of 11 US military bases scattered over Spain, Portugal, Italy,
and Turkey demonstrate how high the region ranks on the list of
Washington's priorities.
Predictably, the US is not going to tolerate rivals in the
Mediterranean region even if they are its nominal allies. This
explains the character of the US relations with Turkey, a country
Washington is permanently attempting to subject to a kind of political
micromanagement. The main threat - that used to be posed by the USSR -
evaporated a long time ago, but things have not become any simpler for
Ankara. The US holds its Turkish partners on a short leash and allows
them minimal space for maneuvers in international politics. In the
Soviet era the fear of the USSR led Turkey to embrace the arrangement,
and the US used its territory to keep the southern part of the Soviet
Union at gunpoint. The situation began to change when the US launched
the Greater Middle East project which implies an overhaul of the
borders of the region's countries including those in the proximity of
Turkey.
Upon toppling S. Hussein in Iraq, the US started reshaping the
oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan, and the process echoed with legitimate
concern in Ankara. The possibility of independent Kurdish statehood in
northern Iraq which is openly discussed in the US political circles
worries Turkey where the Kurdish population of some 18-20 million
people might seek unification with their Iraqi brethren numbering
around 6 million.
The deployment of elements of the US missile defense in Romania, the
country competing against Turkey in the Mediterranean, also took a
toll on the relations between Ankara and Washington. Ankarais aware
that - absent the Soviet threat - the US no longer needs a strong
Turkey. The unequal partnership between the two countries continues to
exist but is already viewed skeptically by the Turkish elite.
Turkey has the potential to take a bigger role in the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea regions. The Turkish army with its more than 600,000
servicemen is the biggest one in Europe and second only to the US in
NATO in terms of manpower. Turkey has 4,200 tanks, 3,200 armored
vehicles, 750 aircrafts, 16 submarines, and a fairly strong navy. On
top of that, Turkey maintains its own impressive military-industrial
complex. The Turkish leadership is increasingly wary of accepting the
US political oversight and begging for the EU membership of which the
majority of Turkish politicians used to dream a short time ago. There
is growing concern in the Turkish society that shedding the country's
identity - both Muslim and secular - would be the price to be paid for
admission to the EU. Turks are determined to take on the task of
preserving their cultural identity in the settings of Turkey's secular
statehood and the ongoing globalization.
Turkey is not the only Mediterranean country resenting the US quest
for hegemony. Italy's Institute of Geopolitical Studies suggested
officially that Rome reorient its regional politics doctrine so as to
take into account the rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara. Italy
is also interested in regional leadership (which only France could
potentially contest) but - hosting 7 US military bases - it clearly
lacks political autonomy from Washington. As a result, the US is
active in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe while Rome
routinely puts Italian political interests below Washington's on its
own agenda. Italy seems unable to overcome the dependence on the US on
its own, but in this respect partnering Turkey might help seriously.
Of course, Rome will not allow its relations with Washington to turn
sour, but Rome no less than Ankara is considering the possibility of
refreshing its political priorities in the Mediterranean region.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was fully aware of the geopolitical potential of
the Ankara-Moscow axis and under his presidency Turkey was among the
first to recognize the Soviet Russia. Rebuilding the tradition,
especially given some positive signals from Rome, could tilt the
balance of forces in the Mediterranean.
From: A. Papazian
WORLD | GULEVICH Vladislav (Ukraine) | 13.09.2010 | 20:42
http://www.strategic-culture.org/rubrics/world.html
Italy Russia Turkey
Turkey dropped Russia from its list of potentially threatening
countries.Largely due to its support for the Kurdish resistance, the
list used to include the USSR and subsequently Russia. As a country
from the US orbit, Turkey was somewhat slow to assess the geopolitical
landscape of the emerging multipolar world, but over the past several
years Ankara started showing increasing interest in Moscow.
Historically, Turkey is a key power in the Mediterranean region which
has for centuries been the scene of geopolitical rivalry. The
Mediterranean Sea is a strategic hub from which control can be
exercised over the coasts of three continents - Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Great Britain, for example, gained a stable position in the
Gibraltar and turned it into a NATO base, thus securing its grip on
the link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The
permanent presence of the US Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and a
network of 11 US military bases scattered over Spain, Portugal, Italy,
and Turkey demonstrate how high the region ranks on the list of
Washington's priorities.
Predictably, the US is not going to tolerate rivals in the
Mediterranean region even if they are its nominal allies. This
explains the character of the US relations with Turkey, a country
Washington is permanently attempting to subject to a kind of political
micromanagement. The main threat - that used to be posed by the USSR -
evaporated a long time ago, but things have not become any simpler for
Ankara. The US holds its Turkish partners on a short leash and allows
them minimal space for maneuvers in international politics. In the
Soviet era the fear of the USSR led Turkey to embrace the arrangement,
and the US used its territory to keep the southern part of the Soviet
Union at gunpoint. The situation began to change when the US launched
the Greater Middle East project which implies an overhaul of the
borders of the region's countries including those in the proximity of
Turkey.
Upon toppling S. Hussein in Iraq, the US started reshaping the
oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan, and the process echoed with legitimate
concern in Ankara. The possibility of independent Kurdish statehood in
northern Iraq which is openly discussed in the US political circles
worries Turkey where the Kurdish population of some 18-20 million
people might seek unification with their Iraqi brethren numbering
around 6 million.
The deployment of elements of the US missile defense in Romania, the
country competing against Turkey in the Mediterranean, also took a
toll on the relations between Ankara and Washington. Ankarais aware
that - absent the Soviet threat - the US no longer needs a strong
Turkey. The unequal partnership between the two countries continues to
exist but is already viewed skeptically by the Turkish elite.
Turkey has the potential to take a bigger role in the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea regions. The Turkish army with its more than 600,000
servicemen is the biggest one in Europe and second only to the US in
NATO in terms of manpower. Turkey has 4,200 tanks, 3,200 armored
vehicles, 750 aircrafts, 16 submarines, and a fairly strong navy. On
top of that, Turkey maintains its own impressive military-industrial
complex. The Turkish leadership is increasingly wary of accepting the
US political oversight and begging for the EU membership of which the
majority of Turkish politicians used to dream a short time ago. There
is growing concern in the Turkish society that shedding the country's
identity - both Muslim and secular - would be the price to be paid for
admission to the EU. Turks are determined to take on the task of
preserving their cultural identity in the settings of Turkey's secular
statehood and the ongoing globalization.
Turkey is not the only Mediterranean country resenting the US quest
for hegemony. Italy's Institute of Geopolitical Studies suggested
officially that Rome reorient its regional politics doctrine so as to
take into account the rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara. Italy
is also interested in regional leadership (which only France could
potentially contest) but - hosting 7 US military bases - it clearly
lacks political autonomy from Washington. As a result, the US is
active in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe while Rome
routinely puts Italian political interests below Washington's on its
own agenda. Italy seems unable to overcome the dependence on the US on
its own, but in this respect partnering Turkey might help seriously.
Of course, Rome will not allow its relations with Washington to turn
sour, but Rome no less than Ankara is considering the possibility of
refreshing its political priorities in the Mediterranean region.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was fully aware of the geopolitical potential of
the Ankara-Moscow axis and under his presidency Turkey was among the
first to recognize the Soviet Russia. Rebuilding the tradition,
especially given some positive signals from Rome, could tilt the
balance of forces in the Mediterranean.
From: A. Papazian