Right Vision News
November 12, 2009 Thursday
Turkey: Is the West losing Turkey? Probably not
Pakistan
Pakistan, Nov. 12 — In recent weeks a lot of newspaper space has been
dedicated to questioning whether Turkey is moving away from its
traditional Euro-Atlantic orientation, turning its back on the West,
so to speak, and choosing instead to become chummier with the Middle
East and the Muslim world. In fact these aspersions are not really
anything new.Ever since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
— which most of the Western media describe as "Islamist" — came to
power, this question has been bubbling away, and seven years since
taking over the reins, the "hidden" Islamist agenda of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is still being talked about.Every foreign policy
decision is closely scrutinized by eagle-eyed analysts and journalists
and of course by Turkey’s opposition parties, which are always on the
lookout for any skullduggery or signs that the government is putting
Turkey’s secular roots at risk.
It’s fair to say that the government has given them plenty of fodder
to get their teeth into: Prime Minister Erdo?an’s walkout during a
debate with Shimon Peres at the Davos World Economic Forum, Turkey’s
decision to veto Israel’s participation in a joint air force exercise
(citing the Israeli leadership’s conduct in Gaza) and Erdo?an’s recent
visit to Iran during which he declared Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad as his friend and accused those countries which oppose
Tehran’s atomic program of hypocrisy can serve as a few examples.
Indeed the Iranian visit in particular raised many eyebrows in the
West. Combine this with Turkey’s apparent disillusionment with the EU
given the slow progress of its membership talks, and Turkey’s
commitment to the West is brought into question. But is this enough to
suggest that Turkey is shifting its foreign policy orientation? I
would doubt that very much.Today Turkey’s foreign policy is famously
focused on "zero problems with neighbors" and, given the fact that
many of Turkey’s neighbors are part of the Muslim world, this means
Turkey is bound to deal with them and build stronger relations even
though they are countries (in the case of Syria and Iran, at least)
that the West does not trust. Turkey has spent decades dealing with
difficult neighbors, but to be taken as a serious regional power and
increasing global player, Ankara needs to put its own house in order
and move from acrimonious to positive relationships. This shift does
not mean that Turkey’s historical relationship with the West is at
risk — rather, it should complement it. Turkey’s reaction to Israel
may have shocked many in the West, but these decisions were taken out
of genuine anger and concern, not because of some prefabricated public
relations campaign to win support from the Arab street. Turkey has for
years been encouraging progress on the Arab-Israeli peace process and
will continue to do so.On Iran, the fact is no country has the luxury
of choosing its own neighbors. You have to make the best of what you
have, and it would be unrealistic for the West to expect Turkey to
have no relations with Tehran. Turkey needs cooperation with Iran on a
whole range of issues, and the best way to go about this would hardly
be for Turkey’s leadership to harshly criticize its leadership at
every opportunity. Indeed while many in the West do not agree with the
"friendly" relations between Erdo?an and Ahmadinejad, at the same they
are not Iran’s neighbor and it is not they who risk having their gas
cut off in the winter months or have Tehran refuse to cooperate on
containing Kurdish militants. Furthermore, if Erdo?an manages to have
the ear of the president, it can also be beneficial to the West. For
an isolated, distrustful Iran, a friendly and powerful neighbor like
Turkey is not to be snubbed. At the same time Turkey also has no
interest in a nuclear Iran. Indeed, Turkey recently ordered advanced
Patriot missile batteries from the US, which could be viewed as an
action to defend itself against Iran’s missile program.Furthermore,
the upgrading or relations is not limited to the Muslim world. The
recent thawing of relations with Armenia — at the cost of risking
relations with "Muslim kin" Azerbaijan — is an example. And then, of
course, there is Russia. Such has been the dramatic increase in ties
that some people even talk of a "Putinization" of Turkey. A scary
thought, to say the least. While relations with the EU are difficult,
they are progressing and Turkey still remains a valuable and dedicated
member of NATO and a country that continues to contribute
substantially to numerous peacekeeping and military operations around
the globe.It seems to me that Turkey is not trying to re-establish the
Ottoman Empire but is rather aiming for a smart foreign policy, a
foreign policy that looks to the East and the West at the same time.
There is no need to have a single geopolitical direction, no need to
make a "choice." This would not serve the interests of the country. So
no one should expect Ankara to "resign" from NATO or quit its EU
membership talks any time soon. Published by HT Syndication with
permission from Right Vision News.