SYRIA BORDER, ONCE ASSOCIATED WITH TERROR, NOW A PATH TO INTEGRATION
TurkishNY
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 08:24
The Oncupınar border gate on the Turkish side of the Turkish-Syrian
border on Tuesday served as the venue for a symbolic gesture reflecting
remarkable progress in bilateral relations between the two countries
with the signing of a historic deal by the foreign ministers of the
two countries, which came to the brink of war more than a decade ago.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid
al-Moallem, officially signed an agreement on Tuesday in Gaziantep
to end visa requirements between the two countries, a goal announced
in mid-September by the two ministers during a visit to Ä°stanbul by
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While announcing the end to visa
requirements, Davutoglu and al-Moallem made an accord last month to
end visa requirements and signed a bilateral cooperation agreement
under which top ministers from the two countries will meet each year.
The accord, titled the "High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council
Agreement," is similar to a strategic mechanism recently established
between Turkey and Iraq.
Yesterday, the Syrian city of Aleppo and the Turkish city of Gaziantep
were venues of a ministerial level meeting of the High-Level Strategic
Cooperation Council, with the first part of the meeting being held
in Aleppo and the second in Gaziantep. The two ministers arrived in
Gaziantep after walking across the border.
Davutoglu was accompanied by nine other ministers while the Syrian
delegation of 15 ministers, including al-Moallem, was led in the
first part of the meeting in Aleppo by a Syrian deputy vice president.
Following the first part of the meeting, Davutoglu and al-Moallem,
while in no-man’s land between the Oncupınar and al-Salame border
gates, together removed a symbolic barrier, marking the significance
of the move by the two countries.
The lifting of visa requirements is only one aspect of a planned
multidimensional bilateral relationship final goal of which was dubbed
at the time by Davutoglu as "maximum integration."
"Our slogan is a joint destiny, a joint history and a joint future,"
Davutoglu said, speaking both in Arabic and in Turkish at a joint press
conference with al-Moallem following the first part of the meeting.
Both Davutoglu and al-Moallem called yesterday "a historic day,"
while the former also said the day was like a "third holiday for the
peoples of Syria and Turkey," referring to the two Muslim religious
holidays in a year.
"I consider today the third holiday of the two peoples," Davutoglu
said, noting that the Tuesday meeting would lay the ground for a prime
ministerial level meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation
Council which will probably be held in Damascus during Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit in December.
"Our two countries worked today like one delegation," Davutoglu said,
voicing hope that the strategic cooperation would present a model for
regional countries, with the spirit of integration being spread around.
For his part, al-Moallem said: "Today is a really historic day. We
set this example for all brotherly countries. We hope other counties
can also develop strategic relations and that these relations include
all fields."
In response to a question, Davutoglu highlighted that the "Turkey-Syria
relationship is not against any country and it is not an alternative
to another relationship." He then added, "However, we will build a
future together as Turkey and Syria."
Davutoglu also said Syria will eventually become an EU neighbor,
while the EU would become a neighbor to the Middle East with Turkey’s
accession to the EU, citing this situation as an opportunity for all
parties concerned.
The course of affairs in bilateral relations between Syria and
Turkey over the last decade may be considered a bold example of the
implementation of Ankara’s "zero-problems policy" in its neighborhood
by reaching out to create an atmosphere of maximum cooperation
neighbors.
In the autumn of 1998, Syria and Turkey came to the brink of
war over the presence of the now-jailed leader of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, in Syria. At the
time, Turkish troops were marshaled along the border with Syria,
with Ankara demanding that Damascus cease its support for the PKK
and hand Ocalan over. Then Syrian President Hafez al-Assad complied
and eventually Ocalan was deported — and subsequently captured by
Turkish special forces in Kenya. PKK training camps in Syria and
Lebanon were also closed down.
In August, while announcing Ankara’s intention to establish a joint
mechanism with Damascus and one that would be similar to the High-Level
Strategic Cooperation Council established between Ankara and Baghdad,
Davutoglu stated that Turkey also wished to improve cooperation
between Turkey and Iraq, which is supported by various mechanisms,
to offer a model for other countries in the region.
The ceremonial meeting at the Oncupınar border gate came only days
ahead of a planned visit by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Baghdad
for the upcoming meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation
Council — a joint meeting of the Iraqi and Turkish cabinets. The
meeting will be presided over by Erdogan and his Iraqi counterpart,
Nouri al-Maliki. The formation of such a council was outlined during
Erdogan’s July 2008 visit to Baghdad.
The fact that this visa agreement with Syria follows the signing
of protocols with Armenia on Saturday for the normalization of
ties and that Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Baghdad will come after
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s visit to Bursa at the invitation
of his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to watch the 2010 World
Cup qualifying second-leg match between the Turkish and Armenian
national teams to be held Wednesday are not a "coincidence at all,"
Turkish diplomatic sources have told.
Such a calendar is a message to both governments and peoples, the same
diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, s Armenian
side should read from the Syrian-Turkish border opening is clear:
"If we are lifting visa requirement for a border which was at one
time mined and used as a refuge by terrorists, then we can easily
open the border with Armenia. However, to do so, Armenia, like Syria,
should clearly state its intention for permanent peace with Turkey."