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TURKEY-FRANCE: A NEW PERIOD?
Today's Zaman
Dec 4 2012
Turkey
Galatasaray University hosted an important meeting last Monday. The
reunion, called the "French-Turkish meetings" and co-organized by
the university's European Research and Documentation Center (CREDE)
and the French think tank Institute of International and Strategic
Studies (IRIS), has brought together many Turkish and French academics,
columnists and politicians.
The first of these meetings took place last year, and to tell the
truth, under a very negative atmosphere: Nicolas Sarkozy was still
in charge then.
During last year's meeting, both sides were too busy blaming each
other for the degradation of the two countries' relations. In fact,
both sides ploughed the sands as everyone knew that under Sarkozy's
presidency, no real progress was possible.
This year's meeting was much more efficient, convivial and
constructive. The organizers had wanted to call people from all
political sensitivities and that's why not only the representatives of
France's governing Socialist Party but also of the main opposition
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) were present. Unfortunately,
Turkey's main opposition party decided not to participate and that's
why they couldn't use this opportunity to express their views to
their French counterparts.
The main goal of this French-Turkish meeting was of course to find
ways to develop bilateral relations. To put it differently, the
participants have tried to correct the consequences of Sarkozy's
harmful policies. Let's first say that everyone agreed on something:
There aren't any direct problems between France and Turkey. The
existing problems are all related to third-party issues, such as
Turkish-EU relations, the Cyprus issue and the island's relations with
NATO and the Armenian genocide issue. In fact, the main problem is
that the two countries have made different and sometimes contradictory
strategic choices about these subjects.
Both sides agree that these problems exist, but they propose different
ways to overcome them. What is encouraging is that everyone seemed
impatient about putting these problems behind and moving forward.
The slogan of this new approach is "common success." Naturally,
in order to reach a common success, one needs to find a common
subject to work on. In order to find this common subject, one needs
a positive atmosphere. This positive atmosphere must be established
quickly as a number of crucial elections are approaching: the EU
Parliament's elections, and presidential elections in Cyprus and
Turkey, for example.
The participants have developed some ideas as to how to find ways
to break the ice. For example, French President Francois Hollande
may come for an official visit to Turkey and use this opportunity
to announce that France will no longer veto the opening of several
EU negotiation chapters. In this context, it would be a good idea
to re-establish the French-Turkish Friendship Group in the Turkish
Parliament. These efforts will not be sufficient to create a common
success, but they will at least contribute to the positive atmosphere.
On which strategic domains can the two countries work together?
Probably about Syria, along with energy and security issues in
the east Mediterranean. There is no doubt that Turkey would like
to cooperate with another power while dealing with these problems,
rather than acting alone. A French-Turkish rapprochement would be
very helpful for the entire region's stability. The key question is:
Why should Turkey choose France as its major partner, and vice-versa?
Maybe a lasting solution would be to have France usher Turkey into
the EU, while Turkey ushers France into the Middle East. However, one
first has to convince the public about this strategic cooperation. As
columnists and academics, we are the ones everyone looks at when it
comes to persuading.
Today's Zaman
Dec 4 2012
Turkey
Galatasaray University hosted an important meeting last Monday. The
reunion, called the "French-Turkish meetings" and co-organized by
the university's European Research and Documentation Center (CREDE)
and the French think tank Institute of International and Strategic
Studies (IRIS), has brought together many Turkish and French academics,
columnists and politicians.
The first of these meetings took place last year, and to tell the
truth, under a very negative atmosphere: Nicolas Sarkozy was still
in charge then.
During last year's meeting, both sides were too busy blaming each
other for the degradation of the two countries' relations. In fact,
both sides ploughed the sands as everyone knew that under Sarkozy's
presidency, no real progress was possible.
This year's meeting was much more efficient, convivial and
constructive. The organizers had wanted to call people from all
political sensitivities and that's why not only the representatives of
France's governing Socialist Party but also of the main opposition
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) were present. Unfortunately,
Turkey's main opposition party decided not to participate and that's
why they couldn't use this opportunity to express their views to
their French counterparts.
The main goal of this French-Turkish meeting was of course to find
ways to develop bilateral relations. To put it differently, the
participants have tried to correct the consequences of Sarkozy's
harmful policies. Let's first say that everyone agreed on something:
There aren't any direct problems between France and Turkey. The
existing problems are all related to third-party issues, such as
Turkish-EU relations, the Cyprus issue and the island's relations with
NATO and the Armenian genocide issue. In fact, the main problem is
that the two countries have made different and sometimes contradictory
strategic choices about these subjects.
Both sides agree that these problems exist, but they propose different
ways to overcome them. What is encouraging is that everyone seemed
impatient about putting these problems behind and moving forward.
The slogan of this new approach is "common success." Naturally,
in order to reach a common success, one needs to find a common
subject to work on. In order to find this common subject, one needs
a positive atmosphere. This positive atmosphere must be established
quickly as a number of crucial elections are approaching: the EU
Parliament's elections, and presidential elections in Cyprus and
Turkey, for example.
The participants have developed some ideas as to how to find ways
to break the ice. For example, French President Francois Hollande
may come for an official visit to Turkey and use this opportunity
to announce that France will no longer veto the opening of several
EU negotiation chapters. In this context, it would be a good idea
to re-establish the French-Turkish Friendship Group in the Turkish
Parliament. These efforts will not be sufficient to create a common
success, but they will at least contribute to the positive atmosphere.
On which strategic domains can the two countries work together?
Probably about Syria, along with energy and security issues in
the east Mediterranean. There is no doubt that Turkey would like
to cooperate with another power while dealing with these problems,
rather than acting alone. A French-Turkish rapprochement would be
very helpful for the entire region's stability. The key question is:
Why should Turkey choose France as its major partner, and vice-versa?
Maybe a lasting solution would be to have France usher Turkey into
the EU, while Turkey ushers France into the Middle East. However, one
first has to convince the public about this strategic cooperation. As
columnists and academics, we are the ones everyone looks at when it
comes to persuading.