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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 21 2013
ErdoÄ?an-Obama: Historic initiatives
BERÄ°L DEDEOÄ?LU
[email protected]
The Turkish prime minister's visit to the US has frequently been
presented as an `historic' one. It is maybe too early to use this
qualification because one should first see concrete results of the
decisions taken during this important visit.
One of the crucial topics that the two leaders discussed was economic
cooperation between the countries in the near future. The oil deals
signed between Turkey and northern Iraq and the natural gas
exploration projects developed by Israel and Greek Cyprus are indeed
matters worth discussing. These new economic cooperation initiatives
will naturally incite new rapprochements but probably new tensions as
well. That is why the energy issue will be one of the most important
variables of Turkish-US relations in the coming years. A free trade
agreement (FTA) between the two countries and a `Silicon Valley' to be
built in Turkey were other topics of discussion between the two
leaders.
Nonetheless, in order to make this economic cooperation work
efficiently, one needs a stable Turkey and, in order to maintain its
stability, Turkey needs a secure region around it. In other words,
Turkey will not be able to fully maximize its economic potential
unless the problems in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Palestine are
resolved. To find a peaceful solution to all these complex problems,
one has to make sure that the domestic antagonistic actors in these
countries sit around a table and discuss a way out. Simultaneously,
one also has to make sure that the foreign actors who want these
problems to continue are somehow pushed out of the game.
Needless to say, in order to achieve all this and to build a lasting
new order in the region surrounding Turkey, Russia needs to be
convinced to play a constructive role. What is probably `historic'
about the Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an-Barack Obama summit is the deal reached
between the two countries to work together on Russia. Turkey will try
to deepen its cooperation with the US without irritating Russia while
the US will take some steps to relieve Moscow of its concerns. The
latter will probably be doubtful at first and will ask Turkey -- and
perhaps Israel -- for some assurances before taking any concrete
action.
The main factor that could encourage Russia to cooperate with Turkey
and the US is the new balance of power in eastern Asia. Moscow and
Washington are fully aware that they need to concentrate their
energies on China and India in the decades to come. For that to
happen, they must agree on other fronts.
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an has said that he spoke to President Obama about
Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC),
the Balkans and the Middle East. This is exactly the list of matters
on which the US and Russia need to come to an agreement. It is obvious
that the two leaders spoke about how to include Russia in US-Turkish
cooperation and how to eliminate the third actors who risk sabotaging
this process.
Some of these third actors are terrorist organizations that use
violence against the diverging interests of the players involved. One
needs to prevent them from doing so and to punish those states that
support them more or less in secret. These states should be forced to
stop supporting these organizations through economic and diplomatic
pressure. That is why Russia's contribution is essential: Only if
Moscow does its part will these methods of pressure work.
It was remarkable that during ErdoÄ?an and Obama's joint press
conference no one uttered the word `Europe'. I'm not sure whether
European leaders are aware that there will be important changes
affecting the entire international scene soon and that they will be
forced to work closer with Turkey from now on. So maybe it is time for
them to consider whether it is still reasonable to maintain the
current visa system or to continue blocking the chapters for
negotiation for Turkey's accession to the EU.
From: Baghdasarian
May 21 2013
ErdoÄ?an-Obama: Historic initiatives
BERÄ°L DEDEOÄ?LU
[email protected]
The Turkish prime minister's visit to the US has frequently been
presented as an `historic' one. It is maybe too early to use this
qualification because one should first see concrete results of the
decisions taken during this important visit.
One of the crucial topics that the two leaders discussed was economic
cooperation between the countries in the near future. The oil deals
signed between Turkey and northern Iraq and the natural gas
exploration projects developed by Israel and Greek Cyprus are indeed
matters worth discussing. These new economic cooperation initiatives
will naturally incite new rapprochements but probably new tensions as
well. That is why the energy issue will be one of the most important
variables of Turkish-US relations in the coming years. A free trade
agreement (FTA) between the two countries and a `Silicon Valley' to be
built in Turkey were other topics of discussion between the two
leaders.
Nonetheless, in order to make this economic cooperation work
efficiently, one needs a stable Turkey and, in order to maintain its
stability, Turkey needs a secure region around it. In other words,
Turkey will not be able to fully maximize its economic potential
unless the problems in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Palestine are
resolved. To find a peaceful solution to all these complex problems,
one has to make sure that the domestic antagonistic actors in these
countries sit around a table and discuss a way out. Simultaneously,
one also has to make sure that the foreign actors who want these
problems to continue are somehow pushed out of the game.
Needless to say, in order to achieve all this and to build a lasting
new order in the region surrounding Turkey, Russia needs to be
convinced to play a constructive role. What is probably `historic'
about the Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an-Barack Obama summit is the deal reached
between the two countries to work together on Russia. Turkey will try
to deepen its cooperation with the US without irritating Russia while
the US will take some steps to relieve Moscow of its concerns. The
latter will probably be doubtful at first and will ask Turkey -- and
perhaps Israel -- for some assurances before taking any concrete
action.
The main factor that could encourage Russia to cooperate with Turkey
and the US is the new balance of power in eastern Asia. Moscow and
Washington are fully aware that they need to concentrate their
energies on China and India in the decades to come. For that to
happen, they must agree on other fronts.
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an has said that he spoke to President Obama about
Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC),
the Balkans and the Middle East. This is exactly the list of matters
on which the US and Russia need to come to an agreement. It is obvious
that the two leaders spoke about how to include Russia in US-Turkish
cooperation and how to eliminate the third actors who risk sabotaging
this process.
Some of these third actors are terrorist organizations that use
violence against the diverging interests of the players involved. One
needs to prevent them from doing so and to punish those states that
support them more or less in secret. These states should be forced to
stop supporting these organizations through economic and diplomatic
pressure. That is why Russia's contribution is essential: Only if
Moscow does its part will these methods of pressure work.
It was remarkable that during ErdoÄ?an and Obama's joint press
conference no one uttered the word `Europe'. I'm not sure whether
European leaders are aware that there will be important changes
affecting the entire international scene soon and that they will be
forced to work closer with Turkey from now on. So maybe it is time for
them to consider whether it is still reasonable to maintain the
current visa system or to continue blocking the chapters for
negotiation for Turkey's accession to the EU.
From: Baghdasarian