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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 1 2012
2011 and the ups and downs of Turkish foreign policy
AMANDA PAUL
First, I would like to wish all Sunday's Zaman readers a Happy New
Year.Turkish foreign policy faced many challenges in 2011, with
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu's `zero problems with neighbors'
approach coming rather unstuck.
Of course successful foreign policy is driven by two sides, meaning
the unraveling of the policy was not entirely Turkey's fault. Turkey
is situated in a tough neighborhood that faces many challenges,
including weak governance, frozen conflicts and trafficking and
illegal migration -- the result being a neighborhood anchored in
instability and security threats.
Since coming to power, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
has reshaped Turkish foreign policy. Barely a decade ago, Turkey's
relations with several of its neighbors were plagued by mutual
recriminations. The AKP pledged to turn this around and deepen both
economic and political ties. It achieved a high degree of success,
particularly in the Middle Eastern region. Turkey also put itself
forward to mediate just about every conflict going; it moved -- but
failed -- to normalize relations with Armenia and strengthened ties
with Moscow, with regional powers overall welcoming Turkey's
pro-active role, which was also applauded by the West.
Then came the Arab Spring, which went on to dominate Turkish foreign
policy for the whole of 2011. The Arab Spring took Turkey, as the rest
of the world, by surprise and Turkey hesitated in its reaction,
particularly vis-Ã-vis Libya and Syria, where Ankara had spent much
political capital on the two leaderships. However, Turkey eventually
got its game together and understood that `sitting on its hands' or
continuing to `dither' gave the impression it supported dictators.
While Turkey initially rejected NATO cooperation in Libya, it went on
to support it and, after a long time asking Syria's president for
reform, Ankara opened itself to the Syrian opposition and asked Bashar
al-Assad to quit. Ever since, Turkey has been at the center of the
action and, in the case of Syria, heavily relied on by the West.
Turkey's leadership was among the first to visit Egypt, Libya and
Tunisia, and the West has called Turkey a role model for the new
emerging leaderships to follow.
Other areas of Turkish foreign policy were also turned on their head,
the first being Turkey's old friend-turned-foe, Israel. With relations
already sour, Turkey froze trade and military deals with Tel Aviv in
September, following Israel's refusal to apologize, lift the Gaza
blockade and offer compensation for loss of life for the victims of
the Mavi Marmara incident that resulted in the deaths of 9 civilians.
While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's negative rhetoric against
Israel may have boosted his popularity on the Arab Street, the dispute
also served to create more tensions in an already heated region and
created a difficult situation for the US, having its two key allies in
the region at loggerheads. Israel also angered Turkey for cooperating
with the Greek Cypriots in oil exploration projects in the eastern
Mediterranean, which resulted in Ankara sending naval vessels near to
where the exploration was taking place.
While Turkey improved ties with both Georgia and Azerbaijan, relations
with Armenia remained sour. Armenia's president outraged Turkey in
July by responding to a school boy's question over the possible return
of `western Armenian, along with Mount Ararat,' which Turkey perceived
as highly provocative, while the recent vote in the lower house of the
French parliament, to make it a criminal offence to deny the Armenian
genocide of 1915 (which was backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and applauded by Armenian leadership), has created fresh tensions with
Yerevan as well as brought Turkey's relationship with NATO ally France
to an all-time low.
Relations with Iran have also been spoiled as a result of Turkey's
position on Syria as well as Ankara's decision to host part of the US
missile defense system. And while Turkey's relations with the US
warmed somewhat in 2011, with the US offering greater support to
Turkey in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
Turkey's EU membership negotiations remain frozen. No new chapters
were opened and Ankara made very little progress on EU-demanded
reforms.
The year has ended with, in the words of Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin, `a New Year's gift for Russia.' Ankara signed an
agreement with Moscow that will allow Russia to use Turkey's Black Sea
Exclusive Economic Zone for its South Stream pipeline. The completion
of this pipeline, together with the recently completed Nord Stream
Pipeline, could `kill off' Ukraine as a transit state. Thereby, Kyiv,
which believed it was building a strong partnership with Ankara,
following yet another visit of Ukraine's leadership to Ankara, has
been left devastated.
All in all, 2011 has been an interesting and challenging year for
Turkish foreign policy, with this trend set to continue in 2012.
Events in the Arab world will continue to test Turkey, and with Cyprus
taking up the EU presidency, Turkish-EU relations will once again
navigate difficult waters.
From: Baghdasarian
Jan 1 2012
2011 and the ups and downs of Turkish foreign policy
AMANDA PAUL
First, I would like to wish all Sunday's Zaman readers a Happy New
Year.Turkish foreign policy faced many challenges in 2011, with
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu's `zero problems with neighbors'
approach coming rather unstuck.
Of course successful foreign policy is driven by two sides, meaning
the unraveling of the policy was not entirely Turkey's fault. Turkey
is situated in a tough neighborhood that faces many challenges,
including weak governance, frozen conflicts and trafficking and
illegal migration -- the result being a neighborhood anchored in
instability and security threats.
Since coming to power, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
has reshaped Turkish foreign policy. Barely a decade ago, Turkey's
relations with several of its neighbors were plagued by mutual
recriminations. The AKP pledged to turn this around and deepen both
economic and political ties. It achieved a high degree of success,
particularly in the Middle Eastern region. Turkey also put itself
forward to mediate just about every conflict going; it moved -- but
failed -- to normalize relations with Armenia and strengthened ties
with Moscow, with regional powers overall welcoming Turkey's
pro-active role, which was also applauded by the West.
Then came the Arab Spring, which went on to dominate Turkish foreign
policy for the whole of 2011. The Arab Spring took Turkey, as the rest
of the world, by surprise and Turkey hesitated in its reaction,
particularly vis-Ã-vis Libya and Syria, where Ankara had spent much
political capital on the two leaderships. However, Turkey eventually
got its game together and understood that `sitting on its hands' or
continuing to `dither' gave the impression it supported dictators.
While Turkey initially rejected NATO cooperation in Libya, it went on
to support it and, after a long time asking Syria's president for
reform, Ankara opened itself to the Syrian opposition and asked Bashar
al-Assad to quit. Ever since, Turkey has been at the center of the
action and, in the case of Syria, heavily relied on by the West.
Turkey's leadership was among the first to visit Egypt, Libya and
Tunisia, and the West has called Turkey a role model for the new
emerging leaderships to follow.
Other areas of Turkish foreign policy were also turned on their head,
the first being Turkey's old friend-turned-foe, Israel. With relations
already sour, Turkey froze trade and military deals with Tel Aviv in
September, following Israel's refusal to apologize, lift the Gaza
blockade and offer compensation for loss of life for the victims of
the Mavi Marmara incident that resulted in the deaths of 9 civilians.
While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's negative rhetoric against
Israel may have boosted his popularity on the Arab Street, the dispute
also served to create more tensions in an already heated region and
created a difficult situation for the US, having its two key allies in
the region at loggerheads. Israel also angered Turkey for cooperating
with the Greek Cypriots in oil exploration projects in the eastern
Mediterranean, which resulted in Ankara sending naval vessels near to
where the exploration was taking place.
While Turkey improved ties with both Georgia and Azerbaijan, relations
with Armenia remained sour. Armenia's president outraged Turkey in
July by responding to a school boy's question over the possible return
of `western Armenian, along with Mount Ararat,' which Turkey perceived
as highly provocative, while the recent vote in the lower house of the
French parliament, to make it a criminal offence to deny the Armenian
genocide of 1915 (which was backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and applauded by Armenian leadership), has created fresh tensions with
Yerevan as well as brought Turkey's relationship with NATO ally France
to an all-time low.
Relations with Iran have also been spoiled as a result of Turkey's
position on Syria as well as Ankara's decision to host part of the US
missile defense system. And while Turkey's relations with the US
warmed somewhat in 2011, with the US offering greater support to
Turkey in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
Turkey's EU membership negotiations remain frozen. No new chapters
were opened and Ankara made very little progress on EU-demanded
reforms.
The year has ended with, in the words of Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin, `a New Year's gift for Russia.' Ankara signed an
agreement with Moscow that will allow Russia to use Turkey's Black Sea
Exclusive Economic Zone for its South Stream pipeline. The completion
of this pipeline, together with the recently completed Nord Stream
Pipeline, could `kill off' Ukraine as a transit state. Thereby, Kyiv,
which believed it was building a strong partnership with Ankara,
following yet another visit of Ukraine's leadership to Ankara, has
been left devastated.
All in all, 2011 has been an interesting and challenging year for
Turkish foreign policy, with this trend set to continue in 2012.
Events in the Arab world will continue to test Turkey, and with Cyprus
taking up the EU presidency, Turkish-EU relations will once again
navigate difficult waters.
From: Baghdasarian