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Hurriyet, Turkey
July 4 2012
Ankara, Paris committed to opening a new page in ties
SERKAN DEMÄ°RTAÅ?
Amid all the sound and fury over Syria, particularly following the
downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces, another very important
development in Turkish foreign policy will take place this week in
Paris.
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu will hold bilateral talks with his
French counterpart Laurent Fabius on July 5, after months of coldness
between the two allies over the former French administration's
inexplicably antagonistic attitude towards Ankara.
Nicholas Sarkozy's exit from the Elysée Palace after Socialist
François Hollande's victory has already signaled that a reconciliation
process can now commence between Ankara and Paris. Hollande has met
with President Abdullah Gül in Chicago and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an in Brazil on the margins of international summits.
But the real kick-off is planned for Paris this week. Both sides are
working seriously to make this first gathering a success and a
meaningful start to increased cooperation in many fields. The most
important issue, however, will be Syria. As the bilateral meeting
between the two ministers will take place just a day before the third
meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People, DavutoÄ?lu and Fabius will
evaluate recent developments in the wake of the Geneva and Cairo
meetings. One should expect more consultation between the two capitals
now, as both countries host important figures in the Syrian
opposition, who have yet to complete the establishment of a united
front against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
At the bilateral meeting, France's expectation is that the military
sanctions Turkey imposed after France's parliamentary panel approved
the bill penalizing the denial of Armenian genocide on Dec. 22, 2011
will be lifted. Although ErdoÄ?an called for the removal of these eight
sanctions, his instruction has not yet been effectuated. French
military planes cannot use Turkish airspace, and vessels are still
forbidden to enter Turkish territorial waters. The French Defense
Attaché is still on the blacklist of the Chief of General Staff.
France expects that DavutoÄ?lu will formally announce the removal of
these sanctions during the talks in Paris.
In return, Ankara's expectation is the removal of France's block on
five negotiation chapters of Turkey's EU membership bid. Fabius will
likely tell his Turkish counterpart that the new administration is not
against blocking Turkey's accession talks, as Hollande stated in his
election campaign. However, the removal of the blocks would take some
time. And due to the fact that Greek Cyprus is EU term president for
the second half of 2012, the two sides can spend this time effectively
working on these chapters and completing preparations for the Irish
term presidency in 2013.
The renewal of the 60-year-old agreement on cooperation in the field
of culture is equally important. Updating this agreement will allow
Turkey to open Yunus Emre Culture Institutes in France, while France
can strengthen its three institutes in Turkey.
Apart from all of these positive issues, there is no doubt that the
strong Armenian diaspora will continue to exert pressure on French
lawmakers to adopt a law penalizing the denial of the Armenian
genocide until 2015, the centennial of the so-called genocide. The
fact that the French Constitutional Council nixed the last such
attempt in April will surely make future moves more difficult, but
that will not douse efforts by some devoted French lawmakers in the
future. The DavutoÄ?lu-Fabius meeting will also address this potential,
and will seek ways to best avoid a future potential crisis.
July/04/2012
July 4 2012
Ankara, Paris committed to opening a new page in ties
SERKAN DEMÄ°RTAÅ?
Amid all the sound and fury over Syria, particularly following the
downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces, another very important
development in Turkish foreign policy will take place this week in
Paris.
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu will hold bilateral talks with his
French counterpart Laurent Fabius on July 5, after months of coldness
between the two allies over the former French administration's
inexplicably antagonistic attitude towards Ankara.
Nicholas Sarkozy's exit from the Elysée Palace after Socialist
François Hollande's victory has already signaled that a reconciliation
process can now commence between Ankara and Paris. Hollande has met
with President Abdullah Gül in Chicago and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an in Brazil on the margins of international summits.
But the real kick-off is planned for Paris this week. Both sides are
working seriously to make this first gathering a success and a
meaningful start to increased cooperation in many fields. The most
important issue, however, will be Syria. As the bilateral meeting
between the two ministers will take place just a day before the third
meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People, DavutoÄ?lu and Fabius will
evaluate recent developments in the wake of the Geneva and Cairo
meetings. One should expect more consultation between the two capitals
now, as both countries host important figures in the Syrian
opposition, who have yet to complete the establishment of a united
front against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
At the bilateral meeting, France's expectation is that the military
sanctions Turkey imposed after France's parliamentary panel approved
the bill penalizing the denial of Armenian genocide on Dec. 22, 2011
will be lifted. Although ErdoÄ?an called for the removal of these eight
sanctions, his instruction has not yet been effectuated. French
military planes cannot use Turkish airspace, and vessels are still
forbidden to enter Turkish territorial waters. The French Defense
Attaché is still on the blacklist of the Chief of General Staff.
France expects that DavutoÄ?lu will formally announce the removal of
these sanctions during the talks in Paris.
In return, Ankara's expectation is the removal of France's block on
five negotiation chapters of Turkey's EU membership bid. Fabius will
likely tell his Turkish counterpart that the new administration is not
against blocking Turkey's accession talks, as Hollande stated in his
election campaign. However, the removal of the blocks would take some
time. And due to the fact that Greek Cyprus is EU term president for
the second half of 2012, the two sides can spend this time effectively
working on these chapters and completing preparations for the Irish
term presidency in 2013.
The renewal of the 60-year-old agreement on cooperation in the field
of culture is equally important. Updating this agreement will allow
Turkey to open Yunus Emre Culture Institutes in France, while France
can strengthen its three institutes in Turkey.
Apart from all of these positive issues, there is no doubt that the
strong Armenian diaspora will continue to exert pressure on French
lawmakers to adopt a law penalizing the denial of the Armenian
genocide until 2015, the centennial of the so-called genocide. The
fact that the French Constitutional Council nixed the last such
attempt in April will surely make future moves more difficult, but
that will not douse efforts by some devoted French lawmakers in the
future. The DavutoÄ?lu-Fabius meeting will also address this potential,
and will seek ways to best avoid a future potential crisis.
July/04/2012