FRANCE SEEKS BETTER SECURITY AND DEFENSE TIES WITH TURKEY

Turkish Daily News
July 24 2008

In a move to repair defense and military ties, Paris dispatches
a high-level ambassador to Ankara to inform Turkish officials of
Sarkozy’s newly announced White Book. ‘Turkey is one of the few
countries that we have chosen to present our new defense and security
strategies to,’ says D’Aboville

SERKAN DEMÄ°RTAÅ~^/Analysis ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

A top French diplomat yesterday brought Turkish officials up to date on
the recently published White Book on defense and security strategies,
a move that is being interpreted as Paris’ intension to seek to mend
damaged bilateral ties in the military field.

"Turkey is a very important country for us. Turkey is one of the
few countries that we have chosen to present our new defense and
security strategies to," Benoit D’Aboville, chief advisor at the
National Audit Office, told the Turkish Daily News yesterday.

Turkey and France have experienced bitter times in recent years after
Paris recognized the 1915 deaths of Armenians as genocide and tried to
pass a law punishing the denial of the genocide. The harshest reaction
came from the Turkish military, which still affects bilateral military
ties. Turkey excluded French companies from defense procurement
tenders and even closed its airspace to French military aircraft.

D’Aboville admitted that there were still some difficulties in
bilateral military ties but said the two countries have an excellent
cooperation in NATO, especially in the operations in Afghanistan,
Bosnia and in Kosovo. "Our troops are working together in some very
dangerous zones in Afghanistan," he said. Turkey and France rotate
the command of the NATO’s ISAF mission in Kabul.

On June 17, French President Nicholas Sarkozy unveiled the White Book,
a blueprint for France’s short term and strategic planning in the field
of domestic and foreign security, detailing new threats stemming from
globalization, introducing new structures to better organize and better
finance its cost. Another dimension of this security understanding is
France’s full participation in the structures of NATO, after nearly
four decades of its withdrawal from the alliance’s military command.

Return to NATO

"In fact, we have not much need to return to NATO," a high-level
French diplomat said. "But President Sarkozy considers NATO as a
family and he believes that France should be side by side with the
other members of the family," the diplomat added.

However, Paris has not yet officially announced its decision to
return to NATO. There are a number of countries which welcome Paris’
intension, according to diplomats. "Our return will let our officers
get better positions in the command structures. Nothing more. We’re
already very active and efficient within NATO. More than 4,000 French
troops are serving for the alliance, which makes 10 percent of all
29 countries’ contributions," another diplomat added.

No need for approval

A French return to NATO has been on Turkey’s agenda for some time as
well. According to unconfirmed reports in the Turkish press, Ankara was
seeking to bargain with Paris to allow the latter’s full participation
in NATO in return for compromises such as less resistance to Turkey’s
bid to join the European Union.

Turkish diplomats never confirmed such intensions but some academics
strongly advised it to the government. "I think Turkey should veto
a French return. France recently decided to put Turkish entrance in
the EU to a referendum. Therefore Turkey should show that it also has
some cards to play," Cagrı Erhan, an academic and foreign relations
expert said.

But according to French diplomats, there will be no process of approval
in the NAC, the highest decision-making body of the alliance, if
France decides to fully return. Furthermore, a French diplomat stated
that there was no uneasiness on the Turkish side on a French return
to the alliance. "Why would Turkey be against of it?" a diplomat asked.

"We have not heard of any uneasiness from Turkish diplomats on our
full return to NATO," a French diplomat said. "Such a thing would
only make French taxpayers happy."

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