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Mehr News Agency (MNA), Iran
July 27, 2012 Friday
Turkey's chameleon policy toward Syria
TEHRAN, July 27 (MNA) -- Since the start of the political unrest in
Syria, Turkey has changed its policy toward its neighbor several
times. Initially, Turkey made efforts to maintain its strategic
relations with Syria, and the two countries were expected to reap the
benefits of a decade of cooperation. Then Turkish officials demanded
that the Syrian government adopt a softer stance toward the
opposition.
However, as the internal conflict intensified, Syrian refugees flooded
into Turkey, and Ankara began to officially criticize Damascus.
Currently, Turkey has allied itself with the Syrian opposition, which
is trying to drive President Bashar al-Assad out of power, and
relations between the two countries are seriously strained. Turkey's
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has adopted very unusual
policies toward Middle Eastern countries ever since they came to power
in November 2002. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once
a good friend of Muammar Gaddafi and received the Al-Gaddafi
International Prize for Human Rights. However, after the outbreak of
war in Libya, Erdogan quickly changed his stance and began calling for
the ouster of Gaddafi. In Egypt, he took advantage of every
opportunity to establish closer ties with former dictator Hosni
Mubarak, but when the Egyptian revolution neared victory, Erdogan
suddenly established warm ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. In Syria,
Erdogan successfully normalized Turkey's relations with its neighbor
in all areas, i.e., the political, economic, security, and cultural
spheres. However, after the escalation of the crisis in Syria, Erdogan
criticized Assad, saying he was stifling the democratic aspirations of
the Syrian people. In this criticism, Turkey aligned itself with
governments like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are some of the most
undemocratic countries in the world. The main goal of Turkey's
ever-changing foreign policy is the protection of its economic
interests, and it has nothing to do with democratic values or freedom
of expression. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is the
architect of Turkey's diplomacy, has been seriously criticized inside
the AKP for his failure to realize the policy of zero problems with
neighbors. Currently, Turkey has problems with Syria, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq, and instead of attempting to extricate the
country from the current problematic situation, Turkey's foreign
policy team is only making things worse day by day. AKP leaders seem
to have come to the conclusion that by supporting the United States'
policies in the Middle East, Turkey can improve its economic and
political situation. However, if the U.S. fails to realize its
objectives in Syria, Turkey will have great difficulty maintaining its
position in the region. Seyyed Asadollah Athari is a senior research
fellow at the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran
and an expert on Turkey. MS/HG END MNA
July 27, 2012 Friday
Turkey's chameleon policy toward Syria
TEHRAN, July 27 (MNA) -- Since the start of the political unrest in
Syria, Turkey has changed its policy toward its neighbor several
times. Initially, Turkey made efforts to maintain its strategic
relations with Syria, and the two countries were expected to reap the
benefits of a decade of cooperation. Then Turkish officials demanded
that the Syrian government adopt a softer stance toward the
opposition.
However, as the internal conflict intensified, Syrian refugees flooded
into Turkey, and Ankara began to officially criticize Damascus.
Currently, Turkey has allied itself with the Syrian opposition, which
is trying to drive President Bashar al-Assad out of power, and
relations between the two countries are seriously strained. Turkey's
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has adopted very unusual
policies toward Middle Eastern countries ever since they came to power
in November 2002. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once
a good friend of Muammar Gaddafi and received the Al-Gaddafi
International Prize for Human Rights. However, after the outbreak of
war in Libya, Erdogan quickly changed his stance and began calling for
the ouster of Gaddafi. In Egypt, he took advantage of every
opportunity to establish closer ties with former dictator Hosni
Mubarak, but when the Egyptian revolution neared victory, Erdogan
suddenly established warm ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. In Syria,
Erdogan successfully normalized Turkey's relations with its neighbor
in all areas, i.e., the political, economic, security, and cultural
spheres. However, after the escalation of the crisis in Syria, Erdogan
criticized Assad, saying he was stifling the democratic aspirations of
the Syrian people. In this criticism, Turkey aligned itself with
governments like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are some of the most
undemocratic countries in the world. The main goal of Turkey's
ever-changing foreign policy is the protection of its economic
interests, and it has nothing to do with democratic values or freedom
of expression. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is the
architect of Turkey's diplomacy, has been seriously criticized inside
the AKP for his failure to realize the policy of zero problems with
neighbors. Currently, Turkey has problems with Syria, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq, and instead of attempting to extricate the
country from the current problematic situation, Turkey's foreign
policy team is only making things worse day by day. AKP leaders seem
to have come to the conclusion that by supporting the United States'
policies in the Middle East, Turkey can improve its economic and
political situation. However, if the U.S. fails to realize its
objectives in Syria, Turkey will have great difficulty maintaining its
position in the region. Seyyed Asadollah Athari is a senior research
fellow at the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran
and an expert on Turkey. MS/HG END MNA