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DAVUTOGLU - TURKEY'S MR FOREIGN POLICY
Turkish Press
Aug 21 2014
By Betul Yuruk, Thursday, August 21, 2014
Ahmet Davutoglu has played a crucial role in Turkish foreign policy
for more than a decade
ANKARA - A former academic, Ahmet Davutoglu has served the Justice
and Development Party faithfully since 2002, as an adviser to prime
ministers Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, for the past
five years, as foreign minister.
It was in this role that he emerged as one of the party's leading
figures, steering Turkey to a more central position on the regional
and global stage.
As foreign minister of the country bridging Europe and Asia, Davutoglu
wanted to "transform Turkey into not only a regional power but also
a global power."
Born in the central Anatolian province of Konya in 1959, Davutoglu
suffered the loss of his mother aged four but has emerged as a
world-renowned diplomatic figure over the past decade.
Even before his promotion to the foreign ministry, he was a prolific
writer on foreign policy issues with books published in Turkish,
English, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Persian and Albanian.
This culminated in him being placed seventh in Foreign Policy
magazine's 2010 list of top 100 global thinkers, citing his role as
"the brains behind Turkey's global reawakening."
During his political life he has been centrally involved in the
40-year-old Cyprus conflict; the dispute between Turkey and Armenia; as
well as the seemingly intractable feud between Palestinians and Israel.
In Cyprus, he supported Kofi Annan's 2004 peace plan which saw Turkish
Cypriots agree to a federal system, only for Greek Cypriots to vote
overwhelmingly against the proposal.
In another diplomatic hurdle close to Turkish hearts, Davutoglu
was involved in negotiations on establishing ties between Ankara
and Yerevan in 2007, only for the agreement to fail due to Armenian
intransigence.
Since 2002, Turkey has played a key role as a mediator in the
Israel-Palestine conflict with Davutoglu, bringing the two sides
together for a peace conference in Ankara.
He also played a role at the heart of Turkey's efforts to resolve
sectarian violence in the Muslim world between Sunni and Shiite
factions, particularly in neighboring Iraq and Syria, as well as
wielding influence in Serbia's disputes with Bosnia and Kosovo and
over cross-border tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
During Davutoglu's period near the top of government, Turkey's
representation overseas has grown significantly, with the number of
diplomatic missions rising from 163 to 221 over the last 12 years.
Furthermore, Turkey has developed its Africa policy, extending an open
hand to the continent to secure valuable commercial contracts. The
number of Turkish embassies in Africa has nearly trebled while 28
African nations are now represented in Ankara.
Perhaps more than any other foreign policy issue, European Union
accession has dominated Davutoglu's time in power. Turkey began
negotiating in 2005 and has been working hard to secure membership. At
the end of last year, Turkey signed an agreement to allow visa-free
travel in the EU for Turkish citizens.
However, Davutoglu's pet project has always been humanitarian
diplomacy, in particular the human suffering unleashed by the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring.
Accordingly, the Global Humanitarian Aid Report ranks Turkey as fourth
in a table of contributor countries to its emergency humanitarian
fund and Turkey spent more than $1 billion on relief projects, mainly
aimed at Syrian refugees, in 2012.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news/414695/
From: A. Papazian
Turkish Press
Aug 21 2014
By Betul Yuruk, Thursday, August 21, 2014
Ahmet Davutoglu has played a crucial role in Turkish foreign policy
for more than a decade
ANKARA - A former academic, Ahmet Davutoglu has served the Justice
and Development Party faithfully since 2002, as an adviser to prime
ministers Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, for the past
five years, as foreign minister.
It was in this role that he emerged as one of the party's leading
figures, steering Turkey to a more central position on the regional
and global stage.
As foreign minister of the country bridging Europe and Asia, Davutoglu
wanted to "transform Turkey into not only a regional power but also
a global power."
Born in the central Anatolian province of Konya in 1959, Davutoglu
suffered the loss of his mother aged four but has emerged as a
world-renowned diplomatic figure over the past decade.
Even before his promotion to the foreign ministry, he was a prolific
writer on foreign policy issues with books published in Turkish,
English, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Persian and Albanian.
This culminated in him being placed seventh in Foreign Policy
magazine's 2010 list of top 100 global thinkers, citing his role as
"the brains behind Turkey's global reawakening."
During his political life he has been centrally involved in the
40-year-old Cyprus conflict; the dispute between Turkey and Armenia; as
well as the seemingly intractable feud between Palestinians and Israel.
In Cyprus, he supported Kofi Annan's 2004 peace plan which saw Turkish
Cypriots agree to a federal system, only for Greek Cypriots to vote
overwhelmingly against the proposal.
In another diplomatic hurdle close to Turkish hearts, Davutoglu
was involved in negotiations on establishing ties between Ankara
and Yerevan in 2007, only for the agreement to fail due to Armenian
intransigence.
Since 2002, Turkey has played a key role as a mediator in the
Israel-Palestine conflict with Davutoglu, bringing the two sides
together for a peace conference in Ankara.
He also played a role at the heart of Turkey's efforts to resolve
sectarian violence in the Muslim world between Sunni and Shiite
factions, particularly in neighboring Iraq and Syria, as well as
wielding influence in Serbia's disputes with Bosnia and Kosovo and
over cross-border tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
During Davutoglu's period near the top of government, Turkey's
representation overseas has grown significantly, with the number of
diplomatic missions rising from 163 to 221 over the last 12 years.
Furthermore, Turkey has developed its Africa policy, extending an open
hand to the continent to secure valuable commercial contracts. The
number of Turkish embassies in Africa has nearly trebled while 28
African nations are now represented in Ankara.
Perhaps more than any other foreign policy issue, European Union
accession has dominated Davutoglu's time in power. Turkey began
negotiating in 2005 and has been working hard to secure membership. At
the end of last year, Turkey signed an agreement to allow visa-free
travel in the EU for Turkish citizens.
However, Davutoglu's pet project has always been humanitarian
diplomacy, in particular the human suffering unleashed by the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring.
Accordingly, the Global Humanitarian Aid Report ranks Turkey as fourth
in a table of contributor countries to its emergency humanitarian
fund and Turkey spent more than $1 billion on relief projects, mainly
aimed at Syrian refugees, in 2012.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news/414695/
From: A. Papazian