IN RISKY DEAL, TURKEY SEEKS SECURITY, TRADE
By MARC CHAMPION
World Street Journal
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May 18 2010
Pact brokered with Brazil is part of policy of reaching out to
neighbors, but tests relations with the U.S..
ISTANBUL–Turkey’s work on a nuclear deal with Iran is part of its
effort to iron out problems with neighbors for the sake of security
and commerce–sometimes at the risk of angering Washington.
The Iran deal comes amid a foreign policy the Turkish government calls
"zero problems with neighbors," under which it has opened up borders
for trade and improved strained relations with countries such as Syria,
Iraq, Russia and Greece, as well as Iran.
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Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Leaders from Brazil, Iran and Turkey, from left to right, stand behind
their foreign ministers during the signing of the nuclear-fuel exchange
deal in Tehran on Monday.
.The architect of the policy, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,
said the foreign-policy activism should be a boon to the U.S., which
needs a strong "model partner" at the heart of the region to attain
its goals. The policy has in some areas been a success, winning a
measure of influence and commercial markets for Turkey. Some policies
have had strong U.S. backing.
But over the past year, the potential conflict between what Washington
wants and what Ankara considers good for Turkey has become increasingly
clear as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attacked Israel
over its invasion of Gaza, backed away from a border-opening deal
with Armenia and sought to end the international isolation of Hamas,
Syria and Iran.
Iran could prove a breaking point in relations between the U.S. and
Turkey, says Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey program at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think
tank.
The Obama administration sees sanctions as the key to heading off calls
for U.S. or Israeli strikes against Iran, an outcome it wants to avoid.
"If Turkey is seen to balk at sanctions or vote against them in the
[United Nations] Security Council, we will have a mini-crisis in the
relationship," said Mr. Aliriza.
Turkey’s foreign ministry stood by the deal, saying it was a testament
to the trust Turkey has developed among its neighbors in recent years
that Iran would agree to entrust enriched uranium to Turkey.
The view here Monday was of a Turkish victory. Mr. Erdogan "has
played a clever game with this deal and so have the Iranians," said
Huseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at the Middle
East Technical University in Ankara. "It helps him to establish his
image as an international statesman and it helps Iran to gain time."
Turkish officials, including Mr. Erdogan, have said repeatedly they
believe further economic sanctions on Iran will fail in their goal,
and will increase tensions in the region. Turkish officials have also
noted that Turkey was one of the biggest losers from international
sanctions against Iraq.
Trade deals and pipeline contracts have been at the heart of most
of Turkey’s charm offensives toward its neighbors, and Iran in
particular has potential to help Turkey realize its core strategic
goal of becoming an energy hub, delivering natural gas and oil to
the markets of Western Europe.
"Their main driver in foreign policy is commercial," says Henri J.
Barkey, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, a Washington think tank. "The Iranians now owe Turkey big time
and the Turks will expect payback."
In 2004, two major Turkish commercial contracts–one $200 million deal
to build and in part operate a new terminal at Tehran’s airport, and
the other a $2.5 billion Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS investment
to establish a mobile-phone company–were killed off by political
hard-liners in Tehran.
Both deals were opposed in part on grounds of alleged security
concerns, citing Turkey’s relations with Israel. That, analysts say,
is less likely to happen now.
Turkey’s overtures toward Iran, Syria and others in the Middle East
have led some in Turkey and abroad to question whether the ruling
Justice and Development Party’s Islamist roots may be influencing the
government’s foreign-policy choices, and whether the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization member is turning away from the West.
The Turkish government denies both charges.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
