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ANKARA: France Today, Israel Tomorrow?

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  • ANKARA: France Today, Israel Tomorrow?

    FRANCE TODAY, ISRAEL TOMORROW?

    Hurriyet
    June 22 2012
    Turkey

    It was unusual for the Turkish Foreign Ministry to announce that it
    believed Turkish-French relations could improve, following Francois
    Hollande's victory in the first round of the French presidential
    elections, after they hit rock bottom under Nicholas Sarkozy.

    It could be interpreted as an intervention in another country's
    domestic politics, but it also demonstrated the level of discontent
    felt in Erdogan's Ankara against Sarkozy's Paris. From his blockage
    in the opening of new negotiation chapters between Turkey and the
    European Union, to his use of Turkey in domestic politics - especially
    regarding the Armenian genocide claims - and doing that for the last
    seven years, Sarkozy was obviously not Turkish Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan's favorite partner in European politics.

    After being elected as French President, Hollande's Socialist Party
    won the parliamentary elections too, and that was an obvious relief
    for Ankara. Not only because of the clear messages he had given to
    Turkey beforehand that he was not going to use the Armenian issue
    like his rival Sarkozy did, but also because of his clear messages to
    the EU - particularly to German Chancellor Angela Merkel - indicating
    that there was a new actor on stage and that the European political
    equation had to be renewed.

    This has proved right in the EU's new visa regime, which has been
    moderated in parallel with Hollande's suggestions. At last, Ankara
    was hopeful on the outcome of its own visa exemption demands, which
    have been in the deep freeze for years.

    After a meeting between Erdogan and Hollande in Rio during the
    Sustainable Development summit on June 20, Erdogan declared that
    there was now a new page in Turkish-French relations. On June 21,
    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced on TV channel
    CNNTurk that Ankara had ended economic measures against France that
    were imposed following Sarkozy's playing with the genocide issue
    ahead of the elections. Turkey also welcomes the visa exemption
    possibilities brought by the EU Commission, and in return Ankara is
    going to sign an agreement on the readmission of illegal refugees,
    which the EU has been asking for from Turkey for some time. Welcoming
    the EU's new visa regime, EU Minister Egemen BagıÅ~_ highlighted that
    the move was a step closer for integration. It is also important that
    Turkey saw this move before start of the six-month term presidency
    of the Greek Cypriot government, which Turkey does not recognize.

    It would not be too wrong to call the mood in Ankara regarding EU
    relations as the "Hollande Spring."

    But this surprise in Turkey's diplomacy may not be the only one. The
    words of Shaul Mofaz, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, were carefully
    noted down in Ankara, when he said on June 19 that Israel needed to
    come to terms with Turkey's "superpower status in the Middle East"
    and mend ties for the good of both countries.

    Turkey has already made it clear what is needed to improve relations
    with Israel: An apology for the killing of nine of its citizens in
    2010, on board the Mavi Marmara ship that tried to break the embargo
    on the Palestinians in Gaza. If Mofaz is trying to express a change
    in the mood of Israel regarding Turkey under the new government,
    and if such a move is to come, then we might witness the opening a
    new page in Turkish-Israeli relations too.

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