‘OCTOBER ROAD’ TAKEN BY GOV’T ISN’T PERFECT
Fulya Ozerkan

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 2 2009

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Hurriyet photo

The government-sponsored peace initiative in October encompassing a
wide region from the Caucasus to the Middle East is positive following
months of effort but cannot be portrayed as excellent considering
the results, according to foreign policy analysts.

"October can be considered positive in terms of foreign policy but
it would not be correct to portray it as perfect. There are questions
and exclamation marks," Faruk Logoglu, Turkey’s former ambassador to
Washington, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier declared October to be the
"month of peace" as Ankara’s far-reaching diplomatic efforts included
the normalization of relations with Armenia and transitions from
cooperation to integration with Iraq, Syria and Iran.

"We can say October was a month of peace as we did not see any
conflicts," said Huseyin Bagcı, an international relations professor
at the Middle East Technical University. "It is not easy to get swift
results when the process is ongoing on all fronts," he said.

The Caucasus

Despite the signing of the documents between Turkey and Armenia in
Zurich on Oct. 10, the process remains deadlocked, Logoglu said.

"Their signing was good but it is not possible to talk about the
concept of peace before the whole process is concluded. The problem
is still there for the time being," he said.

The agreements inked with Yerevan must pass the Turkish and Armenian
parliaments before they can come into force. The development in
Turkish-Armenian ties drew criticism from Azerbaijan, which opposed
the signing because there has not yet been a settlement to the
Karabakh problem.

"Turkey cannot unilaterally resolve the Karabakh dispute. This is
being abused by Azerbaijan," said Bagcı.

The Middle East

The government has advanced relations with Syria, Iraq and Iran in
the region while the ties with Israel moved in the opposite direction,
said Logoglu.

Accompanied by many ministers, Davutoglu traveled to Syria on Oct. 13
and chaired the first ministerial meeting of the high-level strategic
cooperation council with his Syrian counterpart, a mechanism similar
to the one established with Iraq. Over the weekend, the minister
was in northern Iraq where he met with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud
Barzani and inaugurated Turkey’s consul in Mosul.

"I welcome Turkey’s relations with Iraq but we don’t know how the
central government in Baghdad looks to growing ties between Turkey
and the Kurdish administration in the north. I don’t think [Baghdad]
applauds it," said Logoglu. "The current picture in Iraq is not good.

This is a question mark."

Turkey has been the protector of the Iraqi Kurds, according to Bagcı,
who welcomed the government’s northern Iraq policy. "Turkey is a
project manager in the region, not a project designer. The project
designer is the United States and Europe," he said.

EU vs Middle East

Tension in Turkish-Israeli relations already strained by the Gaza
War spread to the military domain when the government excluded Tel
Aviv last month from a military exercise for political reasons.

"Turkey is criticizing Israel in a constructive way [and is
suggesting] that the latter should change its policy but Turkey is
not anti-Israel," said Bagcı.

Ankara’s alliance with Iraq, Iran and Syria have once again sparked
fears over the direction of foreign policy and is leading to
speculation in Western media that Turkey is drifting away from the
Europe Union.

"Turkey’s level of integration with Iraq, Syria and Iran is, on paper,
superior to that with the EU, which shows not where Turkey is looking
to but where the country is," said Logoglu. "I think Turkey’s cooling
ties with Europe and turning its face to Arab and Islamic countries
is not a foreign policy preference but a result of Turkey’s domestic
policy dynamics," he said.

Bagcı, however, said Turkey was anchored to the West but had
broadened its vision in comparison to past years. "Turkey is like a
sheep with its rope tied to a post. The rope was two meters in the
past, but today, the sheep is grazing on a wider pasture – although
the post is still there, that is, the West," he said.