REMAINING IN LIMBO
by Sedat Laciner
Star
Aug 26 2012
Turkey
When the Ottoman Empire was disintegrated Turkey’s most important
problem had been its isolation. The “Ottoman family” no longer existed
and the “Islamic world” had not yet become a family. The West in turn
still looked at the Turks as a foreign entity. The West has never
been able to take Turkey in. Even when it formed a bloc against the
Soviet Union, the Turks had been abandoned in many cases. For example
they had openly supported Greece in the Cyprus issue, even when the
Turks were being massacred. Our allies France and Greece had provided
shelter to Armenian terrorists. In short, Turkey’s most important
problem had been its isolation.
With the 12 September coup our isolation had further intensified. When
applying to the EEC [European Economic Community] for full membership
Turgut Ozal had known in advance that we would not be accepted.
Nonetheless he had not wanted to lose the “European anchor.”
Furthermore the Turkic republics that had emerged with the
disintegration of the Soviet Union had excited him. He believed that
he would find a solution to Turkey’s isolation problem by means of
relatives such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Relatives such as Bosnia
and Albania that had appeared in the Balkans during the same period
had also given Turkey hope.
With the AKP [Justice and Development Party] governments Turkey
intensified its efforts to become a full member in the EU as of 2002 on
the one hand, while on the other it tried to break its isolation with
its neighbours. Brotherhood was targeted especially in the ties with
Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Unfortunately Turkey’s approach which can be
described as “naive” was greeted with certain unfortunate incidents,
inefficiencies, and ulterior motives. First these efforts coincided
with the invasion of Iraq. When Turkey rejected the 1 March [2003]
motion [for the stationing of US troops in Turkey and the deployment
of Turkish troops into northern Iraq] the United States started a
period of punishing Turkey and the PKK [Kurdistan People’s Congress,
KGK] was once again inflicted upon us. As we have already said,
“being deceived by allies” is not something new for Turkey.
Worst of all is the fact that Ankara has been disappointed by Tehran.
Rather than acting together with Turkey and the other Islamic
countries the Iranians have acted alone, on the basis of their secret
agenda. They lied both to Turkey and to the world with the aim of
developing a nuclear bomb. Despite the fact that the PKK was a serious
problem for Iran, Tehran refrained from cooperating with Turkey in this
regard. Despite the fact that the ties between the United States and
Turkey had been very bad between 2003 and 2007, the Iranians continued
to see Turkey as the “West’s spy” and as their biggest rival. During
this period Iran exerted utmost efforts for preventing large Turkish
companies from entering Iran. Turkey took fatal risks for Iran. It
even defended Iran’s nuclear programme. Ankara, together with Brazil,
supported Iran by itself in the UN Security Council by itself, but
Iran always remained the same. Therefore it is impossible to link
the [crisis] that we are currently experiencing with Iran to the
rapprochement of the ties between Turkey and the United States.
Iran is still the old Iran.
Things might have gone well in Syria but the economic inefficiency
of the Syrians and their culture prevented the development of the ties.
Even at its peak, the trade volume between Turkey and Syria could
not exceed the trade volume between Turkey and Israel. Furthermore
Russia and Iran which influenced Syria behind the scenes hindered
the concretizing of the ties between the two countries. And today
both Syria and Iran are supporting the PKK.
President Abdullah Gul had warned at the time, saying: “Let us
put our garden in order, otherwise someone will come and meddle in
our garden.” And this day has come. The Arab Spring has scattered
the entire region about. Syria and Iran are next in line. Turkey,
just like Saudi Arabia, has also determined its side in Syria: It
is standing by the side of the United States. However the critical
question at this point is as follows: Is the United States’s side
in Syria our side? I have serious hesitations at this point. Under
normal circumstances comrades-in-arms are like brothers. A threat to
one is also a threat to the other. However it is impossible to see
this brotherhood in the war on the PKK. There is not much difference
between Iran and the United States against the PKK.
Of course, there is also the Israeli factor. Following the Mavi
Marmara incident Israel is capable of drowning Turkey in a teaspoon
of water. Nonetheless if Turkey were to declare war against Syria,
this would have been the best solution for Israel. As you know,
I wrote a year ago – in fact I had also written earlier – that it
will be even sweeter for Israel if Turkey declares war against Iran.
In short, Turkey’s isolation continues. Regardless of what it does,
it is not able to find true friends in its foreign relations. Maybe
the fact that it is seeking friends is the real problem.
[Translated from Turkish]