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PERIOD OF RESTORATION
Milliyet (in Turkish), Turkey
Nov 21 2013
by Asli Aydintasbas
I do not know whether or not you are aware of it, but while we have
been continually debating domestic policy issues such as residences
housing both male and females, the duet by [Kurdish singers] Sivan
Perwer and Ibo [Ibrahim Tatlises], and private cramming schools,
Ankara has quietly entered into a period of "tidying things up"
in foreign policy.
Instead of "precious isolation," a period of "reset" in foreign policy,
with a term that [journalist] Cengiz Candar borrowed from diplomat
Temel Iskit, has begun.
Things like lambasting the West by making the Rabi'ah gesture
[referring to Rabi'ah al-Adawiyah Square in Cairo] and saying "you
are unable even to call the coup in Egypt a coup," issuing ultimatums
to the UN on account of Syria, lashing out at [Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri] Al-Maliki, references to Iran, and piling on the EU, are no
longer the order of the daya~@¦ Instead, Foreign Minister [Ahmet]
Davutoglu, quietly travelling to various places in the world, is
working to repair Ankara's relations with the countries with which
they have become unravelled during the recent period. If you note,
he began with the Gulf Arab shaykhdoms that supported the coup in
Egypt; he went to Saudi Arabia, and thereafter to Iraq, with which
we had been at daggers drawn for some time, and then to Europe and,
this week, to Washingtona~@¦
To the extent that I have heard, Ankara has, during the most recent
period, entered into an effort to establish a dialogue with the new
administration in Egypt, and has begun to make life difficult for
the radical groups in Syria.
Essentially, though, neither the violence of the civil war in Syria
nor the tyranny of the coup in Egypt has lessened at all!
But it is clear that meaningful statements coming one after another,
claims emerging on a daily basis in the foreign press that Turkey was
supporting Al-Qa'idah in Syria, writings on [National Intelligence
Organization, MIT, Undersecretary] Hakan Fidan, criticisms in the
media regarding Turkish democracy, economic warnings coming from the
Gulf countries, cold winds blowing out of Europe, and the indications
that the Syria crisis is going to be a long-term one, obliged Ankara
to engage in "re-adjusting the balances" in foreign policy.
Even the protocols with Armenia, which had gone into the deep-freeze,
are once again on the table! We are looking for the formula that
will open the EU lock in Cyprus. And not just regional issues; if
the reports are true, the government is reportedly even reviewing
the Chinese missile purchasea~@¦
The language of foreign policy, which until recently had been
experiencing a virtual explosion in self-confidence, now has the air
of a humble "crisis management" effort.
This is not a bad thing, but was an adjustment that needed to be made.
Even if you are morally in the right position, foreign policy cannot
endure a careless style in domestic politics. To defy the world,
and at the same time to be at odds with one's neighbours, and to
transfer the tension existing within the country to the outside,
was not a policy that could long be sustained. For this reason,
if the government feels the need for crisis management in foreign
policy today, it makes no sense to reject or belittle this.
What I wonder is, if a "reset" is being applied in foreign policy,
just what foreign policy are we returning to? As expressed by a friend
of mine: "To Davutoglu's policy of zero problems with the neighbours,
or to the foreign policy of [former Foreign Minister and current
President] Abdullah Gul?"
A question worth noting. But the world has changed a great deal in
the past year. In 2013, the Middle East became caught up in turbulence
in such a way as not to become straightened out for a rather long time.
All the balances were upset, and there is a sectarian conflict that
is proceeding at full force. As things now stand, there is no area,
apart from the "Iraqi Kurdistan region," that we can embrace or join
together with.
In this situation, the rational thing is the second option. The course
should be reset to the orientation it had during the AKP's [Justice
and Development Party] first term, that is, when Abdullah Gul was
Foreign Minister. And this means anchoring Turkey in Europe once again,
rendering the norms of "Western" democracy and human rights supreme
once again domestically, and bringing foreign policy into parallel
with steps in domestic policy through internal democratization.
If you look at the essence of it, this option doesn't sound bad to
me at all. How about you?
[Translated from Turkish]
From: A. Papazian
Milliyet (in Turkish), Turkey
Nov 21 2013
by Asli Aydintasbas
I do not know whether or not you are aware of it, but while we have
been continually debating domestic policy issues such as residences
housing both male and females, the duet by [Kurdish singers] Sivan
Perwer and Ibo [Ibrahim Tatlises], and private cramming schools,
Ankara has quietly entered into a period of "tidying things up"
in foreign policy.
Instead of "precious isolation," a period of "reset" in foreign policy,
with a term that [journalist] Cengiz Candar borrowed from diplomat
Temel Iskit, has begun.
Things like lambasting the West by making the Rabi'ah gesture
[referring to Rabi'ah al-Adawiyah Square in Cairo] and saying "you
are unable even to call the coup in Egypt a coup," issuing ultimatums
to the UN on account of Syria, lashing out at [Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri] Al-Maliki, references to Iran, and piling on the EU, are no
longer the order of the daya~@¦ Instead, Foreign Minister [Ahmet]
Davutoglu, quietly travelling to various places in the world, is
working to repair Ankara's relations with the countries with which
they have become unravelled during the recent period. If you note,
he began with the Gulf Arab shaykhdoms that supported the coup in
Egypt; he went to Saudi Arabia, and thereafter to Iraq, with which
we had been at daggers drawn for some time, and then to Europe and,
this week, to Washingtona~@¦
To the extent that I have heard, Ankara has, during the most recent
period, entered into an effort to establish a dialogue with the new
administration in Egypt, and has begun to make life difficult for
the radical groups in Syria.
Essentially, though, neither the violence of the civil war in Syria
nor the tyranny of the coup in Egypt has lessened at all!
But it is clear that meaningful statements coming one after another,
claims emerging on a daily basis in the foreign press that Turkey was
supporting Al-Qa'idah in Syria, writings on [National Intelligence
Organization, MIT, Undersecretary] Hakan Fidan, criticisms in the
media regarding Turkish democracy, economic warnings coming from the
Gulf countries, cold winds blowing out of Europe, and the indications
that the Syria crisis is going to be a long-term one, obliged Ankara
to engage in "re-adjusting the balances" in foreign policy.
Even the protocols with Armenia, which had gone into the deep-freeze,
are once again on the table! We are looking for the formula that
will open the EU lock in Cyprus. And not just regional issues; if
the reports are true, the government is reportedly even reviewing
the Chinese missile purchasea~@¦
The language of foreign policy, which until recently had been
experiencing a virtual explosion in self-confidence, now has the air
of a humble "crisis management" effort.
This is not a bad thing, but was an adjustment that needed to be made.
Even if you are morally in the right position, foreign policy cannot
endure a careless style in domestic politics. To defy the world,
and at the same time to be at odds with one's neighbours, and to
transfer the tension existing within the country to the outside,
was not a policy that could long be sustained. For this reason,
if the government feels the need for crisis management in foreign
policy today, it makes no sense to reject or belittle this.
What I wonder is, if a "reset" is being applied in foreign policy,
just what foreign policy are we returning to? As expressed by a friend
of mine: "To Davutoglu's policy of zero problems with the neighbours,
or to the foreign policy of [former Foreign Minister and current
President] Abdullah Gul?"
A question worth noting. But the world has changed a great deal in
the past year. In 2013, the Middle East became caught up in turbulence
in such a way as not to become straightened out for a rather long time.
All the balances were upset, and there is a sectarian conflict that
is proceeding at full force. As things now stand, there is no area,
apart from the "Iraqi Kurdistan region," that we can embrace or join
together with.
In this situation, the rational thing is the second option. The course
should be reset to the orientation it had during the AKP's [Justice
and Development Party] first term, that is, when Abdullah Gul was
Foreign Minister. And this means anchoring Turkey in Europe once again,
rendering the norms of "Western" democracy and human rights supreme
once again domestically, and bringing foreign policy into parallel
with steps in domestic policy through internal democratization.
If you look at the essence of it, this option doesn't sound bad to
me at all. How about you?
[Translated from Turkish]
From: A. Papazian