EXPANSION, NOT SHIFT IN THE TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY AXIS
Ihsan Bal
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Nov 10 2009
The criticisms directed at the improvement of Turkey’s relations with
the ‘East’ result from the lack of faith in Turkey’s transformative
power. The new Turkish interest in the East and South has been the
outcome of Turkey starting to ‘read’ its neighborhood through its
own lenses, from where it firmly dwells.
The claims that Turkish foreign policy orientation has changed
and Turkey left the ‘West’ to turn its face towards the ‘East’
have been insistently kept on the agenda recently. Such claims have
been supported by the agreements Turkey signed with Middle Eastern
countries and the increasing trade volume between these countries
and Turkey. The most recent visit the Turkish Prime Minister paid to
Iran and the problems in Turkish-Israeli relations that emerged in
prior, have even led to claims that Turkish foreign policy is being
Islamized. Is Turkey really turning its face towards the East in the
light of foreign policy theory, solid evidence and the values Turkish
foreign policy has come to rest upon for so long?
Foreign Policy Posture Based on Values
The most striking answer to this question has been given by the
Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who held Turkish Foreign Minister
post for years, during his speech entitled ‘Turkish Foreign Policy
In a New Era’ at the opening of USAK/ISRO (International Strategic
Research Organization) House recently:
"’Where is Turkey heading to?’;, ‘Is Turkey heading to the East?’;,
‘Which direction Turkey is heading to?’. As if Turkey is bewildered
and can easily get dragged by any wave to any port. Let me be honest.
Turkey is well aware what steps it has been taking and why. Of course,
Turkey is moving in all directions, towards East, South, North, and
West. The important point is this: In which direction have Turkey’s
values been developing? Democratic values, the rule of law, respect for
human rights, transparency, accountability, equality between men and
women, free market economy; if in which direction Turkey is moving with
respect to these values is taken into consideration, which direction
Turkey has been heading towards can also be understood better."
As an experienced politician, academician and head of the Turkish
state, the Turkish President has set the best criteria to judge the
direction in Turkish foreign policy: the values it stands for.
According to Gul, those who want to know the direction Turkey is moving
towards ought to consider not Turkey’s economic, diplomatic and daily
relations but rather which values system Turkey has adopted and has
been trying to advance. When one does that which values Turkey has
embraced and stands for is undoubtedly clear.
Better economic, political and military relations developed between
Turkey and Middle Eastern countries should not be taken as surprising.
Similar to amicable relations developed between France, Germany, the
U.S. and other countries, Turkey has to establish friendly relations
with its neighbors. The fact that the trade volume between Turkey and
Iran and Syria goes up and Turkey invests directly in those countries
does not mean that Turkey approves of the types of regimes in these
countries and that Turkey aspires to be one of them. In contrast,
Turkey, as a model country, has been trying to inspire these countries
along the lines of Western principles and values. In other words,
Turkey is not heading towards the East but carrying Western values
to the East while maintaining its ‘long march’ towards the West.
While contributing to Turkey’s material interests, tourism, trade
and direct investment also help Turkey carry Western values such
as liberal democracy and liberal economy to the East. The Iranian,
Lebanese or Israeli tourists that visit Turkey for holiday do not
only benefit from sea, sand and sun but freedoms and the taste of
cooperation are also carried along with the taste of the warm ‘sands.’
Alas, the ‘zero-problem with neighbors’ mentality in Turkish foreign
policy and spike in trade volume with neighbors are presented as
evidence for ‘Easternization’ in Turkish foreign policy. Yet, what is
more normal for a country’s desire to increase its trade volume with
its neighbors? How do those who do not talk about ‘Easternization’
in French foreign policy when France preserves its interests in the
Middle East and increases its trade with regional countries justify
their accusations against Turkey of turning to the East? How can
someone else’s ‘right’ be ‘forbidden’ for Turkey?
Reading the Neighborhood Through its Own Lenses
Turkey has been building the culture of cooperation in its
neighborhood. Turkish President Abdullah Gul proclaimed in front of
Turkey’s most distinguished diplomats, journalists and intellectuals
that "Turkish foreign policy rests on the fundamental principle that
does not see others’ losses as our gain, aims at advancing mutual
interests and win-win situations." In other words, the Turkish outlook
is not based on "as long as I win, the rest does not matter." Ankara
is following an ethical foreign policy. The outcome of that stance
has been the emergence of an appropriate ground for solving seemingly
intractable and perennial problems around it. And this is what disturbs
many, inside and outside alike.
It should be noted in the meantime that the proponents of the claim
that Turkey has been turning its face towards the East have kept
Turkish Premier’s visit to Iran in mind while they have totally
ignored Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visits to Serbia and
Slovakia. Likewise, the Turkish Prime Minister’s visit to Greece
also shows that Turkey is not devoting its energy to one particular
region and that Turkey has a wide foreign policy perspective. Turkey
has kept its stance not in the Middle East but also in the Balkans,
Africa, Afghanistan, and China.
The Turkish President’s visit to Serbia illustrates the last point
well: Turkish-Serbian relations that had been problematic and even
hostile for a long time have drastically changed after the Turkish
President’s 25-27 October ‘operation.’ We have all seen how a former
‘foe’ has been transformed into a close friend. Serbian people that
do not wave American flags have decorated their streets with Turkish
flags; they treated their Turkish guests with great hospitality.
Several agreements were signed during the visit. Breaking prejudices
between the nations, Turkey has obtained the status of ‘privileged
country’ in its relations with Serbia, which, apart from Turkey, only
Russia enjoys. Both sides have agreed on the aim to make Turkey the
number one touristic destination. Serbian President Tadic repeatedly
said during the visit that "stability in the Balkans is not possible
without Turkey."
In short, Turkish foreign policy should not be viewed through a narrow
perspective. Selectively picked pictures and sentences do not give
the whole new picture in Turkish foreign policy. They do not explain
why Turkey, which is claimed to be on its way to Islamize its foreign
policy, has been establishing ever closer relations with Georgia, a
predominantly Christian majority country, and why it has been signing
agreements amounting almost to strategic cooperation agreements with
Serbia, which except groups that have ethnic or religious ties to
it, even the NATO had punished severely before. Such accounts with
limited perspectives do not also explain why Turkey has been trying
to solve its long-standing and entrenched problems with Armenia,
signing ambitious agreements with Russia and concurring with the
Obama Administration on major issues in the regions around Turkey.
"The conscience of its region"
What is being missed amidst the controversies about an alleged shift
in Turkish foreign policy axis is the fact that Turkey has stopped
its former habit of reading ‘the East through the lenses of the West.’
Therefore, the controversy surrounding Turkish foreign policy is the
consequence of the bewilderment of those who had gotten accustomed
to reading Beirut, Damascus, and Baghdad over London, Washington and
Paris. As the virtual boundaries between Turkey and the East have been
removed Turkey is facing the East directly. Those who define Turkey’s
will to be part of the solution to the problems of the East with its
self-formulated prescriptions as a ‘shift of axis in foreign policy’
are falling into the grave mistake of trying to read Turkey based on
its erstwhile habits.
Admittedly, Turkey is more active and visible in the Middle East,
Caucasus, the Balkans, and Africa; however, this does not exhibit a
move away from the West but rather remembering the East.
Turkey is close enough to its friends and has the courage and wisdom
to warn them over their wrongdoings. Turkey is "the conscience of
its region"[1] in that sense. On the contrary, in the words of the
President Gul, Turkey has been pursuing an "ethical foreign policy."
Turkey’s attitude towards telling its friends in the region their
vices as much as it praises their virtues is significant in treating
the double-faced approaches that underlie the long-standing problems
in its neighborhood. Turkey has already scored success in the Middle
East streets thanks to its principled foreign policy.
Even though the Israeli government and some Western journalists
aligned with it prefer blaming Turkey, Turkish warning to Israel over
its vices in treating the Palestinians has not only been praised by
the Palestinians and Arabs but also by sensitive Israelis. After all,
Turkey is not blocking the water flow to or enforcing an arms embargo
on Israel; on the contrary, Turkey has been putting intensive effort
in the fields of economy and trade to improve the lives of Israeli
people. It has gone to great lengths in ensuring that Israel corrects
human rights violations and the disproportionate use of force in
its war against terrorism. Turkey has even invested in Palestine by
building factories, admitting Palestinian students to Turkey to help
the Palestinian police be trained according to universal values and
warning Palestinians to take into account Israel’s security concerns,
to contribute to Israel’s security.
Transformative Power
The critical and vital nature of the role Turkey has assumed by being
the ‘conscience of its region’ can be seen in these examples. New
Turkish involvement, therefore, should be explained not as a ‘shift of
axis in Turkish foreign policy’ but with the principles underlying it.
The criticisms against close relations developed between Turkey
and countries in the ‘East’ have resulted from the lack of faith
in Turkey’s transformative power. At this point, President Gul
has stressed that "plurality of opinions expressed and freedom to
discuss such matters have amplified Turkey’s strength day by day
and the variety of viewpoints has been the pushing factor behind a
stronger Turkey." By asserting that "Turkey’s ‘arteries’ are strong,
its fundamental beliefs and values are irreversibly internalized" the
President pointed out that Turkey is not a country of tergiversation
and that activism in the East does not mean turning its back on the
West and being present in the South is not leaving the North.
The new directions and openings in Turkish foreign policy are the
results of Turkey’s deliberate choice to be the ‘conscience of its
region’ instead of eschewing the Middle East and to read its immediate
neighborhood directly through its own lenses, from where it stands
historically, geographically, and culturally. They also denote Turkey’s
accumulated economic value, entrepreneurship, determination to spread
its plural democracy, of which standards it has been raising day by day
and the powerful middle class, intellectual experience and societal
support that stand behind it all. The western-centered evaluations,
perspectives devoid of self-confidence, superficial analyses and
easy categorizations of those who cannot read the new developments
in Turkish foreign policy are far away from accounting for today’s
Turkey and laying down the true wider picture in that regard.
Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal. Director, Center for Security, Terrorism and
Ethnic Conflict Studies, USAK/ISRO
*A version of this article in Turkish was first
published in Star newspaper on November 09,
2009. It can be reached at the following address:
ye-eksen-degistirmiyor-eksenini-genisletiyor-haber -224122.htm
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[1] Sedat Laciner, "Etik Bir DıÅ~_
Politika," USAK Gundem. November 6, 2009,
r-d%C4%B1%C5%9F-politika.html
http://www.stargazete.com/acikgorus/turki
http://www.usakgundem.com/yazar/1296/etik-bi