A TENSE VISIT WITH A SERIOUS AGENDA

News.am
March 29 2010
Armenia

Below are excerpts from an article by the Turkish analyst Yavuz Baydar
published in Today’s Zaman

German-Turkish talks, as we understand, will not take place in a
jolly mood. Days before German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet
with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss highly
important matters, statements by both of them in various news outlets
had already poisoned the atmosphere.

Merkel, somewhat "out of the blue," mentioned again the notorious
desire to tie Turkey to the European Union through a privileged
partnership, adding to frustration here, and Erdogan expressed
disappointment because Merkel had rejected the idea of establishing
Turkish gymnasiums in Germany.

Furthermore, Erdogan’s repeated angry statements about the parliaments
here and there in the world passing genocide resolutions and continued
hints of deportations (as mentioned in a Der Spiegel interview)
of the illegal Armenian workers in Turkey were not helpful.

If she wants to be constructive, Merkel should avoid entering into
the worn-out domain of "privileged partnership." She is here as the
head of her government and not as a leading figure of her party, and
it is clear that the coalition she leads has absolutely no declared
policy based on privileged partnership for Turkey. If Erdogan happens
to ask her whether she is stating a new official policy, she will have
difficulty responding. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was
very clear on the "ongoing accession process with full membership as
the goal" while visiting Ankara a while ago.

Erdogan must change his rhetoric on the genocide resolutions passing
in parliaments and start acting calmly on those issues. His messages
on the future of protocols on "normalization" with Armenia matter
much more than repeated outbursts targeting elected parliaments in
the world.