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BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN PROMISES AND WESTERN PRESSURE
Friday, 26 December 2014 14:12
The Turkish President cannot get rid of the Gulenists yet
The Turkish authorities are taking a new attack on the main opposition
force in the country - on the Gulenists. According to the mass media,
the Turkish police has arrested an advocate of the Gulenism ideology -
editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanly, as well as Gulenists
implementing public-political activities.
The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper noted in a publication that the
editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper had participated in the conspiracy
against the country's authorities. If assuming the accuracy of
the information presented by the authoritative Turkish newspaper,
it turns out that Turkey's opposition has chosen the opportune time
for settling the old scores with the country's leaders. On the other
hand, the actions of the Turkish police indicate that the former Prime
Minister and current President, Mr. Erdogan, is still terrified with
Gulenists' actions and their impact on wide segments of the society.
The attitude of President Erdogan to the Gulenists is more than
hostile. It is suffice to say that Gulen's ideology is aimed at saving
the country from neo-Ottoman. From time to time, the tangible internal
political tension testifies to the concerns of reasonable sections
of the society - they realize that the policy of the President,
outwardly aspiring for the European Union, cannot be reconciled with
the European values, in other words, the hopes for joining the European
Union should be left for a long time.
Time will show how and how long Erdogan will follow the traditions
of the former Ottoman Empire and thus claim to regional hegemony.
Let's put aside the domestic political situation and pay heed to
Turkey's foreign policy turmoil. Russian President Vladimir Putin's
visit to Ankara in early December was a noteworthy, but not unexpected
event. He stated there that Moscow had refused of the South Stream
project and would supply gas to Europe through a new pipeline via
Turkey and not via Bulgaria. The pipeline will allow to provide
annually 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. Explaining the
reasons for the refusal of the South Stream project, Putin noted that
Bulgaria was deprived of the opportunity to act as an independent
state, and if the EU did not want to make the pipeline a reality, it
would remain impracticable. Russia cannot invest millions of dollars
in the project and then stand on the Bulgarian border, the Russian
President stated. According to the agreement achieved in Ankara, the
South Stream will turn into the Turkish Stream. After the state visit
of the RF President, the Russia experts started debates on Turkey's
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union still in an uncertain format.
The Russian side obviously makes calculations on expanding the EEU
borders towards the East. By the Russian-Turkish rapproachment,
Vladimir Putin tries to maintain his political course both in Europe
and the Middle East. In turn, President Erdogan assured that he
wouldn't join the sanctions against Russia imposed by Europe. This
was the pledge, which extremely surprised Europe.
After the RF President's visit, EU High Representative for Foreign
Affairs anf Security Policy Federica Mogherini visited Turkey. And
although European information sources connected the purpose of her
visit to countering the actions of radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq,
but in fact, according to well-informed sources, the Commissioner came
to Turkey to hold the country's leadership back from the intention
to carry out a new gas project with Russia, as well as to convince
Turkey of joining the sanctions against Russia.
What could the European official promise to Turkey instead? Surely, the
most desirable thing - to speed up the process of admitting Turkey to
the European Union. However, Mogherini told all this with reservation,
i.e. the membership will happen, but not in the near future. For
Turkey, it was clear what the European senseless-for-the-moment promise
really meant, so establishment of Brussels-Ankara relations isn't an
issue for the nearest future.
Let's also note that a few days after the RF President's visit
to Turkey a session of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers was
convened in the Swiss city of Basel. During the discussions related
to the Ukrainian crisis, the representative of Turkey made a speech,
declaring for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, or, against
Russia's foreign policy in the Crimea.
Certainly, it can be argued that the Russian-Turkish rapprochement
today is versatile, and only further developments will show what is
the value of the Russian-Turkish arrangement on the implementation
of a new gas project, as well as the Turkish neutrality on the issue
of the European sanctions against Russia.
There is another fact. While considering the current geopolitical
developments in the Middle and Near East, one of the main players in
the region cannot be ignored - the role of Iran. On the one hand,
the United States and Europe applying sanctions against Russia,
on the other hand, Russia and Turkey aiming at counterbalancing the
West plans in the region, cannot ignore Iran's interests and influence
when elaborating their plans.
What is the current state of the Iran-Russia relations? First,
let's point out the gap in the Russian-Iranian relations. It was
felt during the recent visit of Chairman of the Russian State Duma,
Sergey Naryshkin, to Tehran. The fact that the Russian Parliament
Speaker wasn't received either by Iranian President Rouhani or
by ecclesiastic leader Ali Hamenei testifies to the tension in
the bilateral relations. According to the Russian sources, all the
proposals of Naryshkin were rejected by the Iranian leadership. This
is a fact, which cannot be ignored by Russia.
Referring to the Iranian leadership and its clear political vector in
the regional processes isn't an end in itself - much depends on the
development of the Russia-Iran-Turkey relations. The nearest future
will show how the events will develop in this sphere. The fact is
that Turkey is facing both domestic and foreign policy challenges, and
Erdogan imagines the country's future in toughening the authoritarian
regime and developing the neo-Ottoman ideology. The foreign policy
challenges both in the western and eastern directions, as well as the
domestic political turmoil have set the country's leadership the task
of making a fateful choice.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1661: between-the-russian-promises-and-western-pressure&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Friday, 26 December 2014 14:12
The Turkish President cannot get rid of the Gulenists yet
The Turkish authorities are taking a new attack on the main opposition
force in the country - on the Gulenists. According to the mass media,
the Turkish police has arrested an advocate of the Gulenism ideology -
editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanly, as well as Gulenists
implementing public-political activities.
The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper noted in a publication that the
editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper had participated in the conspiracy
against the country's authorities. If assuming the accuracy of
the information presented by the authoritative Turkish newspaper,
it turns out that Turkey's opposition has chosen the opportune time
for settling the old scores with the country's leaders. On the other
hand, the actions of the Turkish police indicate that the former Prime
Minister and current President, Mr. Erdogan, is still terrified with
Gulenists' actions and their impact on wide segments of the society.
The attitude of President Erdogan to the Gulenists is more than
hostile. It is suffice to say that Gulen's ideology is aimed at saving
the country from neo-Ottoman. From time to time, the tangible internal
political tension testifies to the concerns of reasonable sections
of the society - they realize that the policy of the President,
outwardly aspiring for the European Union, cannot be reconciled with
the European values, in other words, the hopes for joining the European
Union should be left for a long time.
Time will show how and how long Erdogan will follow the traditions
of the former Ottoman Empire and thus claim to regional hegemony.
Let's put aside the domestic political situation and pay heed to
Turkey's foreign policy turmoil. Russian President Vladimir Putin's
visit to Ankara in early December was a noteworthy, but not unexpected
event. He stated there that Moscow had refused of the South Stream
project and would supply gas to Europe through a new pipeline via
Turkey and not via Bulgaria. The pipeline will allow to provide
annually 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. Explaining the
reasons for the refusal of the South Stream project, Putin noted that
Bulgaria was deprived of the opportunity to act as an independent
state, and if the EU did not want to make the pipeline a reality, it
would remain impracticable. Russia cannot invest millions of dollars
in the project and then stand on the Bulgarian border, the Russian
President stated. According to the agreement achieved in Ankara, the
South Stream will turn into the Turkish Stream. After the state visit
of the RF President, the Russia experts started debates on Turkey's
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union still in an uncertain format.
The Russian side obviously makes calculations on expanding the EEU
borders towards the East. By the Russian-Turkish rapproachment,
Vladimir Putin tries to maintain his political course both in Europe
and the Middle East. In turn, President Erdogan assured that he
wouldn't join the sanctions against Russia imposed by Europe. This
was the pledge, which extremely surprised Europe.
After the RF President's visit, EU High Representative for Foreign
Affairs anf Security Policy Federica Mogherini visited Turkey. And
although European information sources connected the purpose of her
visit to countering the actions of radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq,
but in fact, according to well-informed sources, the Commissioner came
to Turkey to hold the country's leadership back from the intention
to carry out a new gas project with Russia, as well as to convince
Turkey of joining the sanctions against Russia.
What could the European official promise to Turkey instead? Surely, the
most desirable thing - to speed up the process of admitting Turkey to
the European Union. However, Mogherini told all this with reservation,
i.e. the membership will happen, but not in the near future. For
Turkey, it was clear what the European senseless-for-the-moment promise
really meant, so establishment of Brussels-Ankara relations isn't an
issue for the nearest future.
Let's also note that a few days after the RF President's visit
to Turkey a session of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers was
convened in the Swiss city of Basel. During the discussions related
to the Ukrainian crisis, the representative of Turkey made a speech,
declaring for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, or, against
Russia's foreign policy in the Crimea.
Certainly, it can be argued that the Russian-Turkish rapprochement
today is versatile, and only further developments will show what is
the value of the Russian-Turkish arrangement on the implementation
of a new gas project, as well as the Turkish neutrality on the issue
of the European sanctions against Russia.
There is another fact. While considering the current geopolitical
developments in the Middle and Near East, one of the main players in
the region cannot be ignored - the role of Iran. On the one hand,
the United States and Europe applying sanctions against Russia,
on the other hand, Russia and Turkey aiming at counterbalancing the
West plans in the region, cannot ignore Iran's interests and influence
when elaborating their plans.
What is the current state of the Iran-Russia relations? First,
let's point out the gap in the Russian-Iranian relations. It was
felt during the recent visit of Chairman of the Russian State Duma,
Sergey Naryshkin, to Tehran. The fact that the Russian Parliament
Speaker wasn't received either by Iranian President Rouhani or
by ecclesiastic leader Ali Hamenei testifies to the tension in
the bilateral relations. According to the Russian sources, all the
proposals of Naryshkin were rejected by the Iranian leadership. This
is a fact, which cannot be ignored by Russia.
Referring to the Iranian leadership and its clear political vector in
the regional processes isn't an end in itself - much depends on the
development of the Russia-Iran-Turkey relations. The nearest future
will show how the events will develop in this sphere. The fact is
that Turkey is facing both domestic and foreign policy challenges, and
Erdogan imagines the country's future in toughening the authoritarian
regime and developing the neo-Ottoman ideology. The foreign policy
challenges both in the western and eastern directions, as well as the
domestic political turmoil have set the country's leadership the task
of making a fateful choice.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1661: between-the-russian-promises-and-western-pressure&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress