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AND NOW, WITH SERBIA, TOO
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2013
by Yavuz Baydar
Imagine if Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras goes to Nicosia and
declares that "Cyprus is Greece, Greece is Cyprus!"
Or, imagine if Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan, while visiting
Nagorno-Karabakh, announces enthusiastically that "Armenia is
Nagorno-Karabakh and Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia!"
This is more or less what Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
did in Kosovo. Having landed in Prizren, he said: "We all belong to
a common history, common culture, common civilization; we are the
people who are brethren of that structure. Do not forget, Turkey is
Kosovo, Kosovo is Turkey!" He added that he "feels at home" when he
visits Kosovo.
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica DaA?iAâ~@¡ told reporters that Erdogan's
statement represented "a direct provocation aimed at Serbia," and that
"something of that kind should not be happening."
The Serbian government said, "Such statements dealt direct harm to
relations between Serbia and Turkey." Belgrade expressed its wish
that the European Union will "via its relevant organs, and also in
the capitals of all member countries" undertake appropriate measures
towards Turkey, as is customary in similar situations - considering
that it was "an act that disturbed the peace process in the southern
Serbian province."
"In the Republic of Serbia, such statements cannot be received as
friendly. They depart from the assurances we get from our contacts
with Turkey's top officials," said the Serbian Foreign Ministry.
There were angry demonstrations in Belgrade, with nationalists shouting
"Kosovo is Serbia." Sentiments even spilled over into Austria where
the leader of the extreme-right Freedom Party (FPO), Heinz Christian
Strache, countered that "Turkey is not Kosovo, Kosovo is not Turkey,"
adding: "We fought for this several centuries ago, and it will always
remain like this. First, Erdogan undermined European societies with a
mass of its citizens, whom he calls 'his soldiers,' and now he openly
expresses territorial pretensions in a sovereign European country -
Serbia. This is absolutely unacceptable."
The crisis has now reached the point of a big chill between Ankara
and Belgrade. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said he was pulling
out of the trilateral talks between Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia and
Hercegovina. "I expect that reason will prevail in Turkey and Turkey
will apologize to Serbia over this aggression without arms," he said.
"Until then, as president of Serbia, I am freezing my participation
at the trilateral meeting between Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina,
and Turkey, because that is not a meeting of war rumbling but of
democratic countries with statesmanly reason that leads to peace in
the Balkans," he added.
What is all this about? Storm in a teacup? Actually, there was nothing
wrong with the first part of Erdogan's statement - the one about
common this or that - but the second part is like sticking a knife
into an open wound in Balkan history and Serbian national identity.
Kosovo is at the centre of it, based on the infamous war between the
Ottomans and Serbs in 1389. It is seen by Serbs as the "motherland."
It is also where Slobodan Milosevic, a former Serbian president,
made the famous speech that started the bloody Balkan wars in the
early 1990s.
Wisdom says, therefore, Kosovo is Kosovo.
Whether read from a written text or ad-libbed, this incident only
adds another element to the conviction that the primary enemy of
Turkish foreign policy is tactlessness in rhetoric, fed by a delusion
of grandeur.
The subject is always the same.
The ill consequences are spreading to a larger geography in Turkey's
vicinity - the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans - rapidly
wasting its chances as a benevolent, influential, trusted, impartial,
fair modern power.
The crisis with Serbia only adds to the big troubles of whatever
remains of the "zero problem neighbourhood" of Ankara. The phrase
about Kosovo has caused huge damage to the good efforts of President
Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to restore ties
with Serbia since 2009. It is back to square one.
Has it at all helped what remains of the reputation of Erdogan's
once-fine initiative on the Alliance of Civilizations, its reputation?
Absolutely not.
And it only gets worse.
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2013
by Yavuz Baydar
Imagine if Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras goes to Nicosia and
declares that "Cyprus is Greece, Greece is Cyprus!"
Or, imagine if Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan, while visiting
Nagorno-Karabakh, announces enthusiastically that "Armenia is
Nagorno-Karabakh and Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia!"
This is more or less what Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
did in Kosovo. Having landed in Prizren, he said: "We all belong to
a common history, common culture, common civilization; we are the
people who are brethren of that structure. Do not forget, Turkey is
Kosovo, Kosovo is Turkey!" He added that he "feels at home" when he
visits Kosovo.
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica DaA?iAâ~@¡ told reporters that Erdogan's
statement represented "a direct provocation aimed at Serbia," and that
"something of that kind should not be happening."
The Serbian government said, "Such statements dealt direct harm to
relations between Serbia and Turkey." Belgrade expressed its wish
that the European Union will "via its relevant organs, and also in
the capitals of all member countries" undertake appropriate measures
towards Turkey, as is customary in similar situations - considering
that it was "an act that disturbed the peace process in the southern
Serbian province."
"In the Republic of Serbia, such statements cannot be received as
friendly. They depart from the assurances we get from our contacts
with Turkey's top officials," said the Serbian Foreign Ministry.
There were angry demonstrations in Belgrade, with nationalists shouting
"Kosovo is Serbia." Sentiments even spilled over into Austria where
the leader of the extreme-right Freedom Party (FPO), Heinz Christian
Strache, countered that "Turkey is not Kosovo, Kosovo is not Turkey,"
adding: "We fought for this several centuries ago, and it will always
remain like this. First, Erdogan undermined European societies with a
mass of its citizens, whom he calls 'his soldiers,' and now he openly
expresses territorial pretensions in a sovereign European country -
Serbia. This is absolutely unacceptable."
The crisis has now reached the point of a big chill between Ankara
and Belgrade. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said he was pulling
out of the trilateral talks between Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia and
Hercegovina. "I expect that reason will prevail in Turkey and Turkey
will apologize to Serbia over this aggression without arms," he said.
"Until then, as president of Serbia, I am freezing my participation
at the trilateral meeting between Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina,
and Turkey, because that is not a meeting of war rumbling but of
democratic countries with statesmanly reason that leads to peace in
the Balkans," he added.
What is all this about? Storm in a teacup? Actually, there was nothing
wrong with the first part of Erdogan's statement - the one about
common this or that - but the second part is like sticking a knife
into an open wound in Balkan history and Serbian national identity.
Kosovo is at the centre of it, based on the infamous war between the
Ottomans and Serbs in 1389. It is seen by Serbs as the "motherland."
It is also where Slobodan Milosevic, a former Serbian president,
made the famous speech that started the bloody Balkan wars in the
early 1990s.
Wisdom says, therefore, Kosovo is Kosovo.
Whether read from a written text or ad-libbed, this incident only
adds another element to the conviction that the primary enemy of
Turkish foreign policy is tactlessness in rhetoric, fed by a delusion
of grandeur.
The subject is always the same.
The ill consequences are spreading to a larger geography in Turkey's
vicinity - the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans - rapidly
wasting its chances as a benevolent, influential, trusted, impartial,
fair modern power.
The crisis with Serbia only adds to the big troubles of whatever
remains of the "zero problem neighbourhood" of Ankara. The phrase
about Kosovo has caused huge damage to the good efforts of President
Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to restore ties
with Serbia since 2009. It is back to square one.
Has it at all helped what remains of the reputation of Erdogan's
once-fine initiative on the Alliance of Civilizations, its reputation?
Absolutely not.
And it only gets worse.