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HURRIYET DAILY NEWS: BULGARIANS, ARMENIANS, GEORGIANS ARE LUCKY THEY DON'T HAVE A COMMON HISTORY WITH TURKEY
news.am
Aug 18, 2011
Armenia
Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the article "Living happily, Turkishly,
ever after" by Burak Bekdil published in Hurriyet Daily News and
Economic Review newspaper.
"In one of his speeches, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that
"Turkey and Iran share a very long, common history." And in another he
said that "a common destiny, a common history, a common future is the
slogan of Turkey and Syria." And in another, "we have a common history,
a common destiny and a common future, as well as cooperation between
Greece and Turkey," prompting this columnist to wonder which countries
in the world Turkey does not have a common destiny, common history and
common future with. Most recently, as crowds in the rebel-controlled
Benghazi, Libya, chanted "Erdogan, Turkey, Muslim," Mr. Davutoglu told
them "we have a common history and a future," the newspaper reports.
"That may be bad news for Turkey's future relations with the Libyan
opposition. One of the countries with which Turkey has a common future
and history is sending one hostile signal after another to Ankara,
telling Mr. Davutoglu's men to butt out of Syria, even accusing Turkey
of providing "terrorists" with arms. The other country with which
Turkey has a common history and a future is calculating where and when
the next Turkish act of hostility will come from. Speaking about that
country, Mr. Davutoglu said, "We have nothing to talk about."
Ultimately, the visa-free trade zone linking
"common-history-and-future" friends Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan
seems to be in the political waste basket now," the source says.
"Meanwhile, the other country with which Turkey has a common history
and a future is digging a massive, 120-kilometer-long area on its
border with Turkey. In the south, the islanders with which we have a
common history and future - although Mr. Davutoglu has not specifically
mentioned that - keep on vetoing EU accession chapters and going ahead
with their Exclusive Economic Zone plans despite Turkish objections,"
the newspaper reads.
"The Bulgarians, Armenians and Georgians are lucky they don't have a
common history and a future with Turkey. Bosnians may not be equally
lucky (yes, Bosnians are our neighbors since Mr. Davutoglu expansively
defines the Turkish neighborhood, as the vast space of Ottoman
dominion). A future visit to Sarajevo may risk ties with Bosnia if
the minister recalls our common history and future with the Bosnians
(if he already has not). It was alarming enough when Mr. Davutoglu said
that "the 16th century was the golden age of the Balkans, and that the
Ottoman era there needs to come back." As one Balkan analyst recently
wrote, "Turkey will be judged by what it is doing in the Balkans now,
not by what it did 400 years ago," the source reports.
"But I am particularly worried about Egypt where the post-Mubarak
political scene, with a touch of a common history and a future
with Turkey, could at any moment recall its anti-Ottoman past,"
the newspaper reads.
From: Baghdasarian
news.am
Aug 18, 2011
Armenia
Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the article "Living happily, Turkishly,
ever after" by Burak Bekdil published in Hurriyet Daily News and
Economic Review newspaper.
"In one of his speeches, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that
"Turkey and Iran share a very long, common history." And in another he
said that "a common destiny, a common history, a common future is the
slogan of Turkey and Syria." And in another, "we have a common history,
a common destiny and a common future, as well as cooperation between
Greece and Turkey," prompting this columnist to wonder which countries
in the world Turkey does not have a common destiny, common history and
common future with. Most recently, as crowds in the rebel-controlled
Benghazi, Libya, chanted "Erdogan, Turkey, Muslim," Mr. Davutoglu told
them "we have a common history and a future," the newspaper reports.
"That may be bad news for Turkey's future relations with the Libyan
opposition. One of the countries with which Turkey has a common future
and history is sending one hostile signal after another to Ankara,
telling Mr. Davutoglu's men to butt out of Syria, even accusing Turkey
of providing "terrorists" with arms. The other country with which
Turkey has a common history and a future is calculating where and when
the next Turkish act of hostility will come from. Speaking about that
country, Mr. Davutoglu said, "We have nothing to talk about."
Ultimately, the visa-free trade zone linking
"common-history-and-future" friends Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan
seems to be in the political waste basket now," the source says.
"Meanwhile, the other country with which Turkey has a common history
and a future is digging a massive, 120-kilometer-long area on its
border with Turkey. In the south, the islanders with which we have a
common history and future - although Mr. Davutoglu has not specifically
mentioned that - keep on vetoing EU accession chapters and going ahead
with their Exclusive Economic Zone plans despite Turkish objections,"
the newspaper reads.
"The Bulgarians, Armenians and Georgians are lucky they don't have a
common history and a future with Turkey. Bosnians may not be equally
lucky (yes, Bosnians are our neighbors since Mr. Davutoglu expansively
defines the Turkish neighborhood, as the vast space of Ottoman
dominion). A future visit to Sarajevo may risk ties with Bosnia if
the minister recalls our common history and future with the Bosnians
(if he already has not). It was alarming enough when Mr. Davutoglu said
that "the 16th century was the golden age of the Balkans, and that the
Ottoman era there needs to come back." As one Balkan analyst recently
wrote, "Turkey will be judged by what it is doing in the Balkans now,
not by what it did 400 years ago," the source reports.
"But I am particularly worried about Egypt where the post-Mubarak
political scene, with a touch of a common history and a future
with Turkey, could at any moment recall its anti-Ottoman past,"
the newspaper reads.
From: Baghdasarian