Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 7 2009
Ankara not yet decided on France’s return to NATO
Turkey is still assessing France’s planned return to the NATO
alliance, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday, a sign that
Ankara might use its veto card in the 19-nation group if Paris refuses
to halt its obstruction of Turkish accession to the European Union.
"Whether this decision needs to be put to a vote or not is still being
evaluated in NATO," Babacan told reporters before departing for a
security conference in Munich, where top US and European officials are
discussing the issue. "It is more of a political matter than a legal
one. Most of the NATO allies see this as a positive thing, but we are
still evaluating it," he added.
France opposes Turkey’s membership in the EU and has blocked the
opening of five negotiation chapters directly related to
accession. When French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wanted France
to resume its full role in NATO, many suggested that this could give
Ankara a trump card to negotiate with France for a more favorable
stance toward its EU bid. Government officials have said the two
subjects are unrelated.
If no objection is raised, NATO members could agree to France’s return
to the alliance as early as an April summit in Strasbourg that will
mark the 60th anniversary of the Western military pact. Alliance
officials say there is no need for a consensus vote on the move if
France decides to go ahead with it. "It is France’s decision to decide
politically whether it wants to take its full place in NATO’s military
structure," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.
The United States and France have already agreed in principle that
France should secure two top NATO posts in the event of its expected
return, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting a diplomat. Under the
agreement, French officials would head NATO’s regional command
headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal and its Allied Command Transformation
(ACT) headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia — the command center in
charge of revamping Europe’s Cold War protector to tackle 21st century
security challenges.
No Arab resentment
Babacan also responded to questions about whether a joint statement
released by foreign ministers from three Arab countries, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia and Egypt, this week was a warning to Turkey to stay away from
Middle East affairs. The statement, which came at the end of a meeting
to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the aftermath of
Israel’s attack on Gaza last month, said non-Arab parties should stay
away. It was widely interpreted as a message to Iran, but some
newspapers in Turkey have commented that it also appears to have been
directed at Turkey, which has intensified its criticism of Israel in
the wake of the Gaza offensive.
"It is impossible to construe it as directed at Turkey," said
Babacan. "Turkey’s policies are commended in our region and across the
entire Arab world. We see this in both the public reactions and in our
regular contacts with the leaders of these countries."
Armenia diplomacy
Babacan is scheduled to meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian while in Munich, continuing a series of diplomatic contacts
with this country to discuss normalization of relations. Turkey has
had no formal ties with Armenia since 1993, when it closed its border
gate and severed diplomatic relations in protest against Armenia’s
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
Babacan said he would also have talks with his Azeri counterpart,
Elmar Mammadyarov, in Baku during a visit next Monday.
07 February 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA