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CANADA MUST GET IN STEP WITH NEW TURKEY
by CAMPBELL CLARK
The Globe and Mail
December 1, 2011 Thursday
Canada
Turkey is suddenly a player in many of the world's major events,
and Canada hasn't yet found a way to come to grips with it. Ottawa's
relationship with Turkey has been lukewarm because of a pointed
dispute over history, and marginal mutual interest. But the country,
which has been on the edge of our radar, is moving front and centre.
Stephen Harper's government wants trade with growing emerging markets,
and Turkey is one such economy, despite the slowdown in Europe. It's
an obvious next step if Canada completes a free trade deal with the EU.
And Turkey is an emerging regional power on the front lines of global
politics in areas where Canada sees itself as having an interest,
but few levers.
Turkey's tough approach with neighbouring Syria's crackdown on
opposition has weight. It issued tough condemnations, and now
sanctions, and was influential is pressing the Arab League to pressure
Damascus. After Canada and other Western nations imposed new sanctions
over Iran's nuclear program, Tehran responded to speculation about
Israeli or U.S. military strikes with threats to retaliate against
Turkey, a NATO ally.
And as the Arab Spring led in the West to hope of democracy and fear of
Islamists taking power, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan stressed
secular democracy can go with and Islam.
Turkey's not a perfect democratic ally. "There are warts, no question
about it. There are journalists in jail," said Carleton University
international relations professor Fen Hampson. But Canada doesn't
only need ties to countries that think just as it does. "Boy-scout
friendships aside, for a country like Canada, which sees itself as
having foreign-policy interests in that region, we need a mature
relationship with Turkey," he said.
But Ottawa's relations with Turkey are sputtering. Turkish ambassador
Rafet Akgunay described them as not terrible, but not great. "For the
time being, if I said that relations are going in the right direction,
I would be lying," he said.
There have been steps. Ottawa slightly increased the number of
Toronto-Istanbul flights. There's some consultation on Syria and
Libya. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has met his Turkish
counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, at international conferences. "We have
tried to co-operate. But the co-operation level is not as it should
be," Mr. Akgunay said.
The "stumbling block" is a Canadian government declaration that
the mass killings of Armenians near the end of the Ottoman Empire,
which by some estimates killed 1.5 million, was a genocide. Turkey
considers that an insult, insisting hundreds of thousands of deaths
came in strife in which many Muslims also died, and it was not a plot
to extinguish Armenians.
The genocide statement was adopted in a 2004 Commons resolution, and
Mr. Harper's government endorsed it in 2006. Tension had eased in 2010,
but was renewed when Mr. Harper repeated the genocide statements in
2011, Mr. Akgunay said.
Turkey won't persuade Mr. Harper's government to backtrack. Mr.
Akgunay suggests softening signals could ease tensions. "Diplomacy
is a way of using words," he said.
There are other avenues. Turkey's growing economy hasn't featured
in Mr. Harper's push for trade with emerging-market countries. There
were exploratory talks about free trade in 2010, but none in 2011. But
there's an obvious logic for moving ahead. Turkey has a customs union
with the EU, so if Canada strikes a deal with the EU, it would smooth
matters for all sides.
There is business potential, according to Burak Aktas, Export
Development Canada representative in Istanbul. Canada sells goods such
as newsprint, pulp and scrap steel, but Canadian engineering firms have
opportunities to build major hospitals, highways, and power plants,
he said. "Turkey is far away, but there are opportunities here now."
by CAMPBELL CLARK
The Globe and Mail
December 1, 2011 Thursday
Canada
Turkey is suddenly a player in many of the world's major events,
and Canada hasn't yet found a way to come to grips with it. Ottawa's
relationship with Turkey has been lukewarm because of a pointed
dispute over history, and marginal mutual interest. But the country,
which has been on the edge of our radar, is moving front and centre.
Stephen Harper's government wants trade with growing emerging markets,
and Turkey is one such economy, despite the slowdown in Europe. It's
an obvious next step if Canada completes a free trade deal with the EU.
And Turkey is an emerging regional power on the front lines of global
politics in areas where Canada sees itself as having an interest,
but few levers.
Turkey's tough approach with neighbouring Syria's crackdown on
opposition has weight. It issued tough condemnations, and now
sanctions, and was influential is pressing the Arab League to pressure
Damascus. After Canada and other Western nations imposed new sanctions
over Iran's nuclear program, Tehran responded to speculation about
Israeli or U.S. military strikes with threats to retaliate against
Turkey, a NATO ally.
And as the Arab Spring led in the West to hope of democracy and fear of
Islamists taking power, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan stressed
secular democracy can go with and Islam.
Turkey's not a perfect democratic ally. "There are warts, no question
about it. There are journalists in jail," said Carleton University
international relations professor Fen Hampson. But Canada doesn't
only need ties to countries that think just as it does. "Boy-scout
friendships aside, for a country like Canada, which sees itself as
having foreign-policy interests in that region, we need a mature
relationship with Turkey," he said.
But Ottawa's relations with Turkey are sputtering. Turkish ambassador
Rafet Akgunay described them as not terrible, but not great. "For the
time being, if I said that relations are going in the right direction,
I would be lying," he said.
There have been steps. Ottawa slightly increased the number of
Toronto-Istanbul flights. There's some consultation on Syria and
Libya. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has met his Turkish
counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, at international conferences. "We have
tried to co-operate. But the co-operation level is not as it should
be," Mr. Akgunay said.
The "stumbling block" is a Canadian government declaration that
the mass killings of Armenians near the end of the Ottoman Empire,
which by some estimates killed 1.5 million, was a genocide. Turkey
considers that an insult, insisting hundreds of thousands of deaths
came in strife in which many Muslims also died, and it was not a plot
to extinguish Armenians.
The genocide statement was adopted in a 2004 Commons resolution, and
Mr. Harper's government endorsed it in 2006. Tension had eased in 2010,
but was renewed when Mr. Harper repeated the genocide statements in
2011, Mr. Akgunay said.
Turkey won't persuade Mr. Harper's government to backtrack. Mr.
Akgunay suggests softening signals could ease tensions. "Diplomacy
is a way of using words," he said.
There are other avenues. Turkey's growing economy hasn't featured
in Mr. Harper's push for trade with emerging-market countries. There
were exploratory talks about free trade in 2010, but none in 2011. But
there's an obvious logic for moving ahead. Turkey has a customs union
with the EU, so if Canada strikes a deal with the EU, it would smooth
matters for all sides.
There is business potential, according to Burak Aktas, Export
Development Canada representative in Istanbul. Canada sells goods such
as newsprint, pulp and scrap steel, but Canadian engineering firms have
opportunities to build major hospitals, highways, and power plants,
he said. "Turkey is far away, but there are opportunities here now."