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TURKEY REVAMPS ITS IMAGE
EDITORIAL, TURKEY | OCTOBER 10, 2013 12:26 PM
By Edmond Y. Azadian
Serving as a geopolitical bridge of NATO structure between Europe
and the Middle East, Turkey improved its economy and international
image to a point where Ottomanist ambitions were resurrected once
more. The duo of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu were credited with Turkey's high-flying position.
As a scholar-diplomat, Foreign Minister Davutoglu had begun to nurture
and nostalgically portray the Ottoman Empire, when subject nations
lived "in harmony" and "brotherly love," the Armenian Genocide and
the bloodbaths from the Balkans to North Africa not withstanding.
Fueled by the dynamics of a booming economy and the hegemony forged
with Israel in the Middle East, Ankara entertained visions of reshaping
the region in a configuration matching its dreams.
Davutoglu proudly proclaimed Turkey's new policy of zero problems with
neighbors, which basically meant to force down Ankara's policies on
its neighbors, under the umbrella of NATO powers.
At this time, Mr. Erdogan's "mildly" Islamist party, in power for
the last decade, had to put the brakes on its domestic and foreign
policy ambitions because it realized that it was biting more than it
could chew.
Despite the dramatic achievements in its economy, its domestic policies
hit some snags as revealed by the Gezi Park demonstrations.
Erdogan was smart enough to diffuse another potential problem -
the Kurdish issue - which could bring down his rule, if it had
combined with the social unrest sparked by an environmental issue and
conflagrated throughout the country. Generally the Kurds abstained from
any action, waiting for the outcome of the Erdogan administration's
negotiations with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party
(PKK), Abdullah Ocalan.
Erdogan's personal ambitions and the ambitions of his country are
under a severe test at this moment; personally he is gearing up for
the upcoming presidential elections, during which he would like to
replace his erstwhile ally, President Abdullah Gul.
He has proclaimed his reform package with the visible intent of
building domestic coalitions for a successful presidential bid.
His "zero problem" foreign policy is in complete tatters, because
Ankara overextended itself to meddle in every neighbor's internal
problems, which backfired.
On September 30, Erdogan announced his package of reforms, which
were met with general discontent. The package does not go enough to
satisfy Kurdish aspiration. The Kurds began their 30-year struggle for
complete independence, which meant the partition of Turkey. Ocalan
realized that the great powers would not allow the territorial
disintegration of an ally and to have down his rhetoric to settle for
cultural self-determination, which meant in the first place, the use
of the Kurdish language. Erdogan's package give only lip service to
that demand. It allows for the instruction of the Kurdish language
only in private schools, which very few Kurds can afford. The terror
laws, which cost the lives of 40,000 Kurds, are still in place and
Erdogan's promise to dismantle them as he plans to draft and adopt
a new constitution. The new constitution will also lower the bar,
allowing Kurdish representatives to be elected to the parliament.
The Kurds are dissatisfied and they have been grumbling about the
withdrawal of armed guerillas from Turkish territory, the only
guarantee to force the government to make concessions.
Turkey boasts a population of 75 million, of which 20 million are
Kurds. Another 20 million are Alevis, whose religious rights have
been completely trampled. Alevi ethnic pride has been mostly awakened
by neighboring Syria, where the Alevi rulers are battling for their
survival. Erdogan's Sunni-dominated administration has ignored Alevi
aspirations, planting a time bomb under his reform package. While
the Syriac Church has been promised the return of some shrines, the
Heybeli Island Greek seminary remains closed and it is contingent
upon some reciprocity with Greece. Turkey insists on opening two
mosques in Athens to consider the opening of the seminary.
The Ecumenical patriarch of the Greek Orthodox church is the spiritual
head of 300 million adherents, yet Turkey refuses to recognize his
title. If the seminary remains shut, no young seminarians will be
educated to replace aging priests or the patriarch himself.
The same applies to the Armenian seminary as the Turks have set
up a trap; no foreign-born clergy can be elected Greek or Armenian
patriarch. And if their respective seminaries are closed, they are
doomed to extinction.
Turkey's foreign policy is under intense scrutiny as most of its
promises and premises have failed; Turkey was in hegemonic alliance
with Israel which afforded Ankara Western powers' full support. In
an effort to win over the Arab and Muslim sympathies, Ankara went too
far with the Mavi Marmara incident which still keeps the Israel-Turkey
axis under tension.
Erdogan's gamble in Egypt backfired as he supported the Islamist
Brotherhood in its overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, while Saudi
Arabia and the Gulf emirates supported the military government,
politically and through generous economic aid. Underneath that
reaction, there was a rebuke by Arab countries towards Erdogan's
pretentions to lead the Sunni world.
Of course, there us no lack of solving the Cyprus crisis, where Turkish
occupation forces are well entrenched and a demographic engineering
is in progress with Anatolian peasants settling on the islands.
Turkey' involvement in the Syrian War resulted in a flood of refugees
into it territory and the rise of Kurdish autonomy movement in Turkey
with the potential threat of a domino effect.
Erdogan's administration has realized that alliance with Israel
not only assures Western powers' support, but also huge potential of
natural gas reserves that Israel has discovered under its Mediterranean
shores. Turkey is dependent on Azeri, Russian and Iranian energy (the
latter under sanctions) and before Israel strikes a deal with Turkey's
arch-enemy, Cyprus, it has to restore relations with the Jewish state
to get a piece of the pie and deny Cyprus a boost to its economy.
Ankara has also extended all the way to Beijing negotiations over
air defense systems to the chagrin of NATO. Two years ago Erdogan
had accused the Chinese government of Genocide in relation to an
incident with the Uyghur minority. Now it is extending its hand for
a military deal.
The ill-fated protocols with Armenia remain frozen and there is no
hope of reviving them, although a former Turkish ambassador to the US
has commented that Ankara needs to restore its relations with Armenia
to enhance its international image.
Thus far, Erdogan's magic has worked domestically and internationally.
He has to prove his political mettle in the present challenges.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2013/10/10/turkey-revamps-its-image/#sthash.1tExuwH7.dpuf
EDITORIAL, TURKEY | OCTOBER 10, 2013 12:26 PM
By Edmond Y. Azadian
Serving as a geopolitical bridge of NATO structure between Europe
and the Middle East, Turkey improved its economy and international
image to a point where Ottomanist ambitions were resurrected once
more. The duo of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu were credited with Turkey's high-flying position.
As a scholar-diplomat, Foreign Minister Davutoglu had begun to nurture
and nostalgically portray the Ottoman Empire, when subject nations
lived "in harmony" and "brotherly love," the Armenian Genocide and
the bloodbaths from the Balkans to North Africa not withstanding.
Fueled by the dynamics of a booming economy and the hegemony forged
with Israel in the Middle East, Ankara entertained visions of reshaping
the region in a configuration matching its dreams.
Davutoglu proudly proclaimed Turkey's new policy of zero problems with
neighbors, which basically meant to force down Ankara's policies on
its neighbors, under the umbrella of NATO powers.
At this time, Mr. Erdogan's "mildly" Islamist party, in power for
the last decade, had to put the brakes on its domestic and foreign
policy ambitions because it realized that it was biting more than it
could chew.
Despite the dramatic achievements in its economy, its domestic policies
hit some snags as revealed by the Gezi Park demonstrations.
Erdogan was smart enough to diffuse another potential problem -
the Kurdish issue - which could bring down his rule, if it had
combined with the social unrest sparked by an environmental issue and
conflagrated throughout the country. Generally the Kurds abstained from
any action, waiting for the outcome of the Erdogan administration's
negotiations with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party
(PKK), Abdullah Ocalan.
Erdogan's personal ambitions and the ambitions of his country are
under a severe test at this moment; personally he is gearing up for
the upcoming presidential elections, during which he would like to
replace his erstwhile ally, President Abdullah Gul.
He has proclaimed his reform package with the visible intent of
building domestic coalitions for a successful presidential bid.
His "zero problem" foreign policy is in complete tatters, because
Ankara overextended itself to meddle in every neighbor's internal
problems, which backfired.
On September 30, Erdogan announced his package of reforms, which
were met with general discontent. The package does not go enough to
satisfy Kurdish aspiration. The Kurds began their 30-year struggle for
complete independence, which meant the partition of Turkey. Ocalan
realized that the great powers would not allow the territorial
disintegration of an ally and to have down his rhetoric to settle for
cultural self-determination, which meant in the first place, the use
of the Kurdish language. Erdogan's package give only lip service to
that demand. It allows for the instruction of the Kurdish language
only in private schools, which very few Kurds can afford. The terror
laws, which cost the lives of 40,000 Kurds, are still in place and
Erdogan's promise to dismantle them as he plans to draft and adopt
a new constitution. The new constitution will also lower the bar,
allowing Kurdish representatives to be elected to the parliament.
The Kurds are dissatisfied and they have been grumbling about the
withdrawal of armed guerillas from Turkish territory, the only
guarantee to force the government to make concessions.
Turkey boasts a population of 75 million, of which 20 million are
Kurds. Another 20 million are Alevis, whose religious rights have
been completely trampled. Alevi ethnic pride has been mostly awakened
by neighboring Syria, where the Alevi rulers are battling for their
survival. Erdogan's Sunni-dominated administration has ignored Alevi
aspirations, planting a time bomb under his reform package. While
the Syriac Church has been promised the return of some shrines, the
Heybeli Island Greek seminary remains closed and it is contingent
upon some reciprocity with Greece. Turkey insists on opening two
mosques in Athens to consider the opening of the seminary.
The Ecumenical patriarch of the Greek Orthodox church is the spiritual
head of 300 million adherents, yet Turkey refuses to recognize his
title. If the seminary remains shut, no young seminarians will be
educated to replace aging priests or the patriarch himself.
The same applies to the Armenian seminary as the Turks have set
up a trap; no foreign-born clergy can be elected Greek or Armenian
patriarch. And if their respective seminaries are closed, they are
doomed to extinction.
Turkey's foreign policy is under intense scrutiny as most of its
promises and premises have failed; Turkey was in hegemonic alliance
with Israel which afforded Ankara Western powers' full support. In
an effort to win over the Arab and Muslim sympathies, Ankara went too
far with the Mavi Marmara incident which still keeps the Israel-Turkey
axis under tension.
Erdogan's gamble in Egypt backfired as he supported the Islamist
Brotherhood in its overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, while Saudi
Arabia and the Gulf emirates supported the military government,
politically and through generous economic aid. Underneath that
reaction, there was a rebuke by Arab countries towards Erdogan's
pretentions to lead the Sunni world.
Of course, there us no lack of solving the Cyprus crisis, where Turkish
occupation forces are well entrenched and a demographic engineering
is in progress with Anatolian peasants settling on the islands.
Turkey' involvement in the Syrian War resulted in a flood of refugees
into it territory and the rise of Kurdish autonomy movement in Turkey
with the potential threat of a domino effect.
Erdogan's administration has realized that alliance with Israel
not only assures Western powers' support, but also huge potential of
natural gas reserves that Israel has discovered under its Mediterranean
shores. Turkey is dependent on Azeri, Russian and Iranian energy (the
latter under sanctions) and before Israel strikes a deal with Turkey's
arch-enemy, Cyprus, it has to restore relations with the Jewish state
to get a piece of the pie and deny Cyprus a boost to its economy.
Ankara has also extended all the way to Beijing negotiations over
air defense systems to the chagrin of NATO. Two years ago Erdogan
had accused the Chinese government of Genocide in relation to an
incident with the Uyghur minority. Now it is extending its hand for
a military deal.
The ill-fated protocols with Armenia remain frozen and there is no
hope of reviving them, although a former Turkish ambassador to the US
has commented that Ankara needs to restore its relations with Armenia
to enhance its international image.
Thus far, Erdogan's magic has worked domestically and internationally.
He has to prove his political mettle in the present challenges.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2013/10/10/turkey-revamps-its-image/#sthash.1tExuwH7.dpuf