A FOREIGN POLICY BRIEFING

Turkish Daily News
Sept 16 2008

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan invited NGO representatives,
retired diplomats and members of the press for a briefing on Turkish
foreign policy last week. Babacan mainly focused on the Middle East and
the Caucasus. He emphasized the successful outcomes of the policy we
followed in the region and said Turkey facilitated contacts between
Israel and Palestine, established a strategic dialogue mechanism
with the Arab League and set up an institutional bond with the Gulf
countries.

He also said our relations with Iraq were now on a very firm ground,
we played a role in the solution of the Lebanese crisis, made positive
contributions to the presidential election process in this country
and helped the start of peace talks between Israel and Syria. Babacan
added that Turkey’s assistance is asked with the initiatives on the
Iranian nuclear program.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the state leaders of
Syria, France and Qatar in the Syrian capital Damascus, Babacan
noted. Among many other activities he described were our strategic
partnership with the African League, the recent Turkey-Africa
Cooperation Summit held in Istanbul, improving relations with the
Pacific and the Caribbean countries as well as mutual visits with
India and China. All these are, without doubt, manifestations of
a proactive foreign policy. Some gave fruit and others turned into
rather symbolic activities to gain more prestige, which is undoubtedly
helpful to a point.

Babacan’s optimism and realities

Babacan’s most striking remarks were on the Caucasus. During the crisis
in Georgia last month, Erdogan had visited Moscow and Tbilisi. Regional
countries gave support to the "Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform" suggested by Turkey. However, this doesn’t mean that the
platform can be put into force shortly.

On what common ground can Russia and Georgia meet? How can Turkey
and Armenia cooperate unless diplomatic ties are established? There
is no peace yet between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As for more solid
Turkish-Armenian relations, we see that the expected rapprochement
process between the two countries following President Abdullah Gul’s
visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan will be conducted in parallel
with the efforts to find solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Babacan seems optimistic about a positive result in the Turkish
and Armenian foreign ministers’ meeting in New York next month. But
the 19-year-old Karabakh issue between Armenian and Azerbaijan is as
complex as the Cyprus issue, or maybe more! I hope Babacan’s optimism
comes true.

Babacan is also optimistic about the Cyprus issue. The main reason
for that is that President Demetris Christofias of southern Cyprus
is more inclined toward settlement than his predecessor, Tassos
Papadopoulos. But both sides want to change the parameters in the Annan
Plan, approved by the Cypriot Turks in the 2004 referendum. Erdogan in
a recent talk said that Guzelyurt cannot be returned to Cypriot Greeks.

But the least disputable part of the Annan plan, on which there has
been a consensus for years, was border arrangements. Christofias,
on the other hand, is trying to change the political balance set
between the sides in the Annan plan. Besides, he is against the
Guarantor Agreement. I think it is early to be optimistic.

The European Union membership process was of course the subject
of talks in the briefing. A short assessment is that the governing
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is usually very successful in
foreign politics, but I have the impression that we are spending more
time and effort to solve the problems of others, some times more than
what we do to solve our own problems inside.