Swissinfo, Switzerland
March 29 2005
Calmy-Rey faces delicate mission in Turkey
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey is travelling to Turkey on
Tuesday, 18 months after a diplomatic spat put paid to a previous
trip.
Ankara withdrew its invitation at the last minute after a cantonal
parliament voted to recognise the 1915 slaughter of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians as genocide.
Three months later – in December 2003 – a similar vote in the House
of Representatives reached the same conclusion, drawing fresh
condemnation from Turkey.
Armenians say around 1.8 million people were killed; Turkey disputes
this, putting the figure closer to 200,000.
The Turkish foreign ministry warned parliamentarians that the
decision could have “negative consequences” on relations between the
two countries.
The Swiss foreign minister is due to holds talks with her Turkish
counterpart, Abdullah Gül, on a wide range of issues.
Roberto Balzaretti, Calmy-Rey’s diplomatic adviser, told swissinfo
that discussions would cover mutual concerns such as “human rights,
minorities and economic relations”.
Asked whether Calmy-Rey would raise the Armenian question, Balzaretti
said it would be difficult “to avoid issues that have caused problems
in the past”.
Tread gently
Françoise Saudan, a member of the parliamentary foreign affairs
committee, who visited Turkey in August, cautioned that the Swiss
foreign minister would need to tread gently.
She said the genocide remained a touchy subject for Turkey, which had
not faced up to its past in the same way Switzerland addressed its
Second World War past.
But Jean-Jacques de Dardel, head of international security policy at
the Swiss foreign ministry, said this week’s visit was not about
resurrecting past disagreements.
“[She] is not going to Ankara to rekindle tensions, but to strengthen
relations between Switzerland and Turkey,” he said.
The issue of Turkish membership of the European Union is also likely
to feature during talks between both foreign ministers.
Calmy-Rey made it clear in December that the Swiss stood to benefit
should Turkey join the bloc.
Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, has signed a series of
bilateral agreements with Brussels covering areas including trade.
Iraq, which borders Turkey, and the Middle East are also expected to
be on the agenda.
Kurdish question
On the second day of her visit Calmy-Rey is due in the city of
Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country, where she
is expected to meet local representatives and non-governmental
organisations.
This section of the trip was viewed in poor light by Ankara in 2003.
Shortly after the invitation was withdrawn, the Turkish authorities
accused Calmy-Rey of meeting a member of a banned Kurdish
organisation in Lausanne.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office later launched an investigation to
find out whether the Swiss foreign minister had been spied on by
Turkey’s secret service.
On the final day of her trip, Calmy-Rey is due to give an address to
the Swiss and Turkish business leaders in Istanbul.
“Turkey is Switzerland’s most important business partner in the
Middle East. Around 40 Swiss firms move there every year,” said
Balzaretti.
Swiss exports to Turkey totalled SFr1.9 billion ($1.6 billion) in
2004 – up 17 per cent on the previous year.
Last week the government lifted restrictions on arms exports to
Turkey, which were imposed in 1992 during a Turkish crackdown against
the Kurds.
swissinfo with agencies