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TURKEY AIMS TO LIMIT FRANCE'S MIDEAST ROLE
Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
Turkey's sanctions aim at limiting French presence in the Mideast and
Caucasus and will remain even if the French Senate disapproves the
'genocide' bill
Turkey's military and political sanctions against France over the
adoption of a controversial "genocide" bill aim to limit French
influence in the Middle East and Caucasus, two important regions
associated with ongoing ethnic and sectarian conflicts.
Immediately after the French Parliament voted Dec. 22 in favor of a
bill penalizing the denial of the 1915 events as genocide, the Turkish
government announced that it would retaliate in kind with sanctions
falling into eight categories. Four of them are military-related,
three are political and the last spells out the cancelation of an
economic and trade meeting.
In addition to the cancelation of joint military drills and joint
exchange and training programs, Turkey has canceled annual blanket
over-flight permission for French state planes and will instead issue
permission on a case-by-case basis. It will also halt requests for
port visits by French warships.
A very important detail suggests that these sanctions are not going
to be removed even if France retreats from its position and quashes
the genocide bill in the Senate. "The sanctions will continue to
be valid until the Turkish government says the opposite," a Turkish
diplomat recently told the Hurriyet Daily News.
According to the diplomats, the measures will seriously affect French
access to the Middle East and the region beyond Turkey.
"France has intense ties with so many countries in our neighborhood.
It has military and other sorts of cooperation with these countries.
They gained a great advantage in reaching out to these regions using
the blanket permission we have long provided to them," a diplomat
told the Daily News. "Now they will lose time and money in doing so."
Two of the Middle East's key countries, Syria and Lebanon, where France
replaced the Ottoman Empire as the colonial power after World War I,
are seen as being crucial for the entire region's stability and still
have close ties with Paris. Though the turmoil in Syria precipitated
rapprochement between Turkey and France, recent developments indicate
that the power struggle between the two sparring countries will now
be exercised in the Middle East.
"Turkey will do everything to prevent a meeting on Syria and other
key topics under the aegis of France," a diplomat said.
However, this development has seriously disturbed the United States
since the tension is likely to weaken the international community's
position vis-a-vis Syria.
Baku evaluates Turkish move
The political storm between Turkey and France will also have
ramifications in the Caucasus, developments suggest.
Even before the adoption of the law, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu complained about France's membership in the Minsk Group at a
meeting with Lamberto Zannier, secretary-general of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The Minsk Group was
established in 1992 to solve the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan
and consists of France, Russia and the United States.
"We have made clear to the OSCE secretary-general that France
membership in the OSCE [Minsk Group] would damage the group's works as
Paris openly took sides with the Armenians on this issue due to strong
pressure from the Armenian diaspora," a diplomat told the Daily News.
But the diplomat said Turkey had not made any official application to
the OSCE after the adoption of the law and had not asked Azerbaijan
to do so either.
On Dec. 23 President Abdullah Gul asked for France's immediate removal
from the Minsk Group membership on the grounds that it had lost its
neutrality on the matter.
"Evaluations on Turkey's views are underway," an Azerbaijani official
told the Daily News yesterday, adding that the France's adoption of
the controversial bill had caused a serious reaction in Baku as well.
Though the government has remained silent on the issue, Deputy
Parliamentary Chairwoman Bahar Muradova said, "Such behavior by France
puts its impartiality and objectivity in doubt as a co-chairman of the
OSCE Minsk Group in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict."
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
Turkey's sanctions aim at limiting French presence in the Mideast and
Caucasus and will remain even if the French Senate disapproves the
'genocide' bill
Turkey's military and political sanctions against France over the
adoption of a controversial "genocide" bill aim to limit French
influence in the Middle East and Caucasus, two important regions
associated with ongoing ethnic and sectarian conflicts.
Immediately after the French Parliament voted Dec. 22 in favor of a
bill penalizing the denial of the 1915 events as genocide, the Turkish
government announced that it would retaliate in kind with sanctions
falling into eight categories. Four of them are military-related,
three are political and the last spells out the cancelation of an
economic and trade meeting.
In addition to the cancelation of joint military drills and joint
exchange and training programs, Turkey has canceled annual blanket
over-flight permission for French state planes and will instead issue
permission on a case-by-case basis. It will also halt requests for
port visits by French warships.
A very important detail suggests that these sanctions are not going
to be removed even if France retreats from its position and quashes
the genocide bill in the Senate. "The sanctions will continue to
be valid until the Turkish government says the opposite," a Turkish
diplomat recently told the Hurriyet Daily News.
According to the diplomats, the measures will seriously affect French
access to the Middle East and the region beyond Turkey.
"France has intense ties with so many countries in our neighborhood.
It has military and other sorts of cooperation with these countries.
They gained a great advantage in reaching out to these regions using
the blanket permission we have long provided to them," a diplomat
told the Daily News. "Now they will lose time and money in doing so."
Two of the Middle East's key countries, Syria and Lebanon, where France
replaced the Ottoman Empire as the colonial power after World War I,
are seen as being crucial for the entire region's stability and still
have close ties with Paris. Though the turmoil in Syria precipitated
rapprochement between Turkey and France, recent developments indicate
that the power struggle between the two sparring countries will now
be exercised in the Middle East.
"Turkey will do everything to prevent a meeting on Syria and other
key topics under the aegis of France," a diplomat said.
However, this development has seriously disturbed the United States
since the tension is likely to weaken the international community's
position vis-a-vis Syria.
Baku evaluates Turkish move
The political storm between Turkey and France will also have
ramifications in the Caucasus, developments suggest.
Even before the adoption of the law, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu complained about France's membership in the Minsk Group at a
meeting with Lamberto Zannier, secretary-general of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The Minsk Group was
established in 1992 to solve the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan
and consists of France, Russia and the United States.
"We have made clear to the OSCE secretary-general that France
membership in the OSCE [Minsk Group] would damage the group's works as
Paris openly took sides with the Armenians on this issue due to strong
pressure from the Armenian diaspora," a diplomat told the Daily News.
But the diplomat said Turkey had not made any official application to
the OSCE after the adoption of the law and had not asked Azerbaijan
to do so either.
On Dec. 23 President Abdullah Gul asked for France's immediate removal
from the Minsk Group membership on the grounds that it had lost its
neutrality on the matter.
"Evaluations on Turkey's views are underway," an Azerbaijani official
told the Daily News yesterday, adding that the France's adoption of
the controversial bill had caused a serious reaction in Baku as well.
Though the government has remained silent on the issue, Deputy
Parliamentary Chairwoman Bahar Muradova said, "Such behavior by France
puts its impartiality and objectivity in doubt as a co-chairman of the
OSCE Minsk Group in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict."
From: A. Papazian