TURKEY’S IDENTITY CRISIS: WHERE IS ANKARA HEADING?
Khaleej Times
Nov 13 2009
UAE
13 November 2009 There have been many questions raised in recent
months regarding Turkey’s position on a number of issues which have
been viewed in the West, particularly in Washington, with trepidation.
However, the international community can, in the short term at least,
count on Turkey’s support in matters relating to counterterrorism,
both regionally and globally.
Turkey, after all, has been a prime target of terrorism for the good
part of the last four decades. But Turkey seems to be handling the
threats aimed its way diplomatically, all while keeping the military
option on the table, as the former U.S. president George W. Bush
liked to say.
The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist
Justice and Development Party (AKP) has confronted the threat from
the PKK, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party with a combination of military
power and political negotiations. A recent visit by Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu to Iraqi Kurdistan, the first of its kind, and Ankara’s
intention on opening a consulate in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan
Regional Government of Iraq is a prime example of Turkey’s ability
to apply the right amount of pressure and the right amount of power.
Turkey’s thawing of relations with Armenia is another prime example
of Ankara’s successes in regional politics.
Yet one may begin to question whether the Turkish example of strict
"laicite," a word borrowed from the French in order to underline the
strict separation of church and state as wished for by the founder of
modern day Turkey, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, is about to become a memory
of a short-lived dream, if Turkey will chose instead to emulate its
neighbour, Iran.
Despite its geopolitical significance, despite its geostrategic
fixture as a bridge between the Muslim world and the Judeo-Christian
West–including the long-standing pivotal role Turkey plays within
NATO and beyond, including Turkish good offices when advancing the
Middle East Peace process– there are mounting concerns stemming from
both internal and external developments.
Domestically, the Justice and Development Party that has come into
power since 2002, seems to gradually transform the country from a
secular-European state along the directives outlined by Ataturk’s
tradition, into a theologically based-nation modeled on Islamic
teachings and practices. Internationally, fears have been expressed
that Turkey can no longer be regarded as a reliable ally providing
critical support for regional and global security needs.
In 2009, for example, several incidents resulted in increasing tensions
between Turkey and its friends in NATO and elsewhere. In January Prime
Minister Erdogan criticized Israeli president Shimon Peres during a
televised debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos over the war
in Gaza; a war which Turkey joined its Arab neighbours in calling
"unjust."
In October Turkey canceled scheduled war games with Israel’s air force;
then Turkish state run television began broadcasting anti-Semitic
programs; and finally, Ankara has strengthened its diplomatic and
economic cooperation with Iran and Syria, two countries who stand
accused by a large segment of the international community of sponsoring
terrorism. It is not surprising therefore that these developments
are worrisome to the United States, the European allies and Israel,
particularly relating to Turkish foreign policy’s disposition on war
and peace issues. Undoubtedly, the uncertainty of Ankara’s apparent
changing diplomatic and strategic course further complicates prospects
of it joining the European Union.
Already Germany’s new coalition government has voiced a strong
opposition to Ankara’s EU accession, underscoring Berlin’s principal,
"not membership, but privileged partnership." Similar sentiments are
echoed by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Still, Turkey’s support of counterterrorism efforts remains strong
as Ankara seems very likely to continue to be victimised in the
foreseeable future by politically motivated terrorism emanating
from Kurdish separatists and from religious motivated terrorism from
Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. And for the foreseeable future the PKK
Kurdish separatists will continue to represent a serious challenge
to Turkey’s internal security. Ankara’s response has been to strike
the PKK and to pursue them in their safe havens well inside the
Kurdish region in northern Iraq. At the same time Ankara is offering
Turkey’s Kurds "expanding rights," such as permitting Kurdish language
television programs.
Turkey’s counterterrorism efforts are also of immense value to its
allies outside the country. Particular mention needs to be made
of Ankara’s role in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership with Turkey
seeking to improve political, economic and cultural relations in the
region. Additionally, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative aims to
promote military to military cooperation in combating terrorism.
Yet between Ankara’s flirting with the Islamist East and wanting
to become part of the democratic West, Turkey is a county doing a
strange political waltz; one step forward and two steps back. Under
the leadership of Prime Minister Erdogan and his Islamist-leaning AKP,
the country has taken great strides forward, appearing more and more
like Europe, a political entity Ankara badly wants to join. For the
moment that is appearances; the reality may be different. The hope is
that Turkey’s national interest will ultimately drive the country’s
foreign policy in a more balanced direction.
Yonah Alexander is professor emeritus at the State University of New
York and director for the International Center for Terrorism Studies
in Washington, DC