ARGENTINE AMBASSADOR ARMANDO JUAN JOSE MAFFEI: THY FLIGHTS TO ARGENTINA TO START NEW ERA IN RELATIONS
Today’s Zaman
Oct 9 2012
Turkey
For some time, Turkey and Argentina have been busy knitting closer
ties. Next month, the bilateral relationship between the two countries
will be clear for takeoff. Starting in November, Turkish Airlines (THY)
will offer new flights connecting Turkey to the Argentine capital.
“Flights between Ä°stanbul and Buenos Aires will start a new era in
bilateral relations,” said Armando Juan Jose Maffei, the Argentine
ambassador to Turkey. THY will initially fly four days a week to
Buenos Aires, with a connection in Sao Paolo. But the airline plans to
increase that number to seven days a week — direct to Buenos Aires —
in the near future.
Ambassador Maffei, showing not a little enthusiasm about the direct
flights, said there are many in Argentina who are interested in Turkey,
noting that his country received many former Ottoman citizens, now
known as “Turcos,” at the beginning of the previous century. “The
interest [in Turkey] is great,” he remarked.
Estimates place the number of those who migrated from the Ottoman
Empire to Argentina at nearly 200,000. The presence of modern day
Turcos in Argentina represents a connection the South American country
has to Turkey, the successor state the Ottoman Empire, as well as to
the greater Middle East.
During the official visit to Turkey of Christina Fernandez de Kirchner,
Argentina’s president, in January of last year, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul made reference to the emigrants, pointing them out as
an example of depth in the two countries’ relationship.
But, as Gul noted in the same speech, not all emigrants who arrived
in Argentina from the empire were ethnic Turks. And today, not all the
emigrants or their descendants, many of whom are ethnically Armenian,
have sympathetic feelings toward Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan was scheduled to visit Argentina in May 2010 but canceled the
visit at the last minute. Plans for a bust of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
to be displayed in a public park were withdrawn by Buenos Aires,
an autonomous district, after pressure from the Armenian diaspora
living there, despite the efforts of Kirchner to the contrary.
The incident proved, however, to leave no stain on bilateral
relations. Kirchner’s visit in January was a sign of the two countries’
willingness to push ahead with closer ties.
And in the coming months, bilateral relations between the two countries
will get a fresh boost with the expected visits of three ministers
from Argentina to Turkey.
New consulate in Ä°stanbul
The visits by the ministers will highlight economic ties. The minister
of foreign affairs, international trade and worship and the minister
of industry are expected to arrive in Turkey on a commercial mission
around the start of next year. Then in February Argentina’s tourism
minister will attend an industry fair in Ä°stanbul. “The visits
will certainly serve to improve bilateral economic relations” said
Ambassador Maffei. The ambassador expressed his own hope for high-level
Turkish delegations to Argentina next year.
Argentina opened a consulate in Ä°stanbul at the beginning of 2012,
and has since added a center promoting commercial investments
and highlighting cultural and educational issues in Argentina. The
consulate, another indication of increasing ties, is sure to stimulate
new business contracts between the two countries. “The relations should
get going in quite a big way in the coming years,” Maffei commented.
The trade volume between Turkey and Argentina stands at $700 million,
a moderate figure for two countries that are also members of the G-20.
Drawing attention to the potential of bilateral economic ties,
Ambassador Maffei suggested that his country and Turkey could reach
$2 billion in trade volume “in a couple of years.” With Argentina and
Turkey endeavoring to boost bilateral trade, the frequency of contact
between the countries’ business communities has increased. President
Kirchner was flanked by Argentine businessmen and women on his visit
last year. At the Turkish-Argentine Business Forum held in Ä°stanbul,
Aykut Eren of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEÄ°K) signed
a memorandum of understanding with Federico Nicholson, vice president
of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA). Other notable signees
included Rıza Nur Meral, president of the Turkish Confederation
of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), and Eduardo Eurnekian,
vice president of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce.
Investment in bilateral trade
As Kirchner noted at the Ä°stanbul forum, Turkey and Argentina should
make use of the synergy in bilateral relations to promote trade
with third countries as well. Kirchner’s willingness to strengthen
economic cooperation is reciprocated amply on the Turkish side. Noting
that the present bilateral trade volume is far from reflecting the
true potential of the two countries, Turkish Economy Minister Zafer
Caglayan expressed similar support for bilateral cooperation in third
markets. Rifat Hisarcıklıoglu, president of the Turkish Union of
Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), added to the theme.
Addressing the Argentine business community, he said, “We are ready
to work together in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.”
Hisarcıklıoglu picked out agriculture and tourism as potential
benefactors of bilateral cooperation. Informatics, agriculture,
biotechnology and energy were also mentioned as mutually beneficial
sectors. Noting Argentina’s strength in the production of pipes used
for transporting oil and gas, Ambassador Maffei suggested a joint
venture in which Argentine investors support the Argentine production
of the pipes in Turkey, which would then serve as a hub for exporting
to surrounding markets.
Education is another dimension in the strengthening of ties between
Turkey and Argentina, in particular student exchanges. In August,
20 students from each country, aged 12-14, switched places and began
a year-long study abroad. The exchange students are placed with host
families native to each country, making it easier for them to adapt
to a new language and culture. For the students, the program is a
chance to find their way in a new culture. For Turkey and Argentina,
it is an investment in the future of a bilateral relationship.
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Fourth biggest producer of biodiesel
As noted by Argentine President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner at
the Turkish-Argentine business forum held in January of last year in
Ä°stanbul, Argentina should not be seen solely as an agricultural
country because it also offers much in terms of technology. The
fourth biggest producer of biodiesel and the second biggest producer
of lithium in the world, the country has uranium enrichment capability
and nuclear reactors, which also serve to desalt sea water. Argentina
is the only Latin American country that has produced three Nobel
Prize winners, in medicine, physics and chemistry.
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Latin America set to become a rising star
Latin American countries have come together in recent years under such
organizations as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and Mercosur
(Southern Common Market), which indicates that major steps have been
taken towards becoming a kind of alternative “European Union.” “Latin
America will be one of the rising stars of this century,” Armando
Juan Jose Maffei, Argentine ambassador to Turkey, commented to
Today’s Zaman, adding, “It’s our projection that in 10 years’ time
the continent will be one of the most important regions in the world.”
Highlighting that peoples in Latin America have similar cultures,
ethnic background and ways of life, he said, “We just like to be
together.” A common language makes the union of the continent much
easier compared to the European Union. The main language of Latin
America, with the exception of Brazil — which speaks Portuguese —
is Spanish. And as the ambassador noted, with its rich natural and
human resources, plus its emerging economies such as Brazil, Argentina
and Mexico, the continent is set to enjoy a bright future.
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Footballers to take part in promotion of Argentina
Argentina will participate in a tourism fair in Ä°stanbul in February
in which Argentine football players will have a part to play. Noting
that there are nearly 10 Argentine footballers in Turkey, Argentine
Ambassador to Turkey Armando Juan Jose Maffei said, “They may play
an important role in the promotion of Argentina.” Hoping to attract
more Turkish tourists to Argentina, especially after the inauguration
in November of direct Turkish Airlines (THY) flights from Ä°stanbul
to Buenos Aires, Argentina will bring to Turkey cultural events such
as tango festivals and concerts.
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‘Syria, a problem to be solved by Syrians’
Argentina is home to an Ottoman population who emigrated to the
country from today’s Syria and Lebanon at the end of the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th centuries, so it is very sensitive to what
is currently happening in Syria. For the Argentine ambassador, the
Syrian crisis is “a problem to be solved by Syrians.” “It’s a Syrian
problem and Syrians have to find a solution,” the ambassador commented.
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Likes ‘Turkish noises and silence’
Argentine Ambassador Armando Juan Jose Maffei has been in Turkey for
almost three years and feels deeply attached to the country. “I could
spend my final days here. I like Turkish noises and silence,” he said.
The ambassador’s remarks about “final days” has a lot to do with
Bodrum. “When I first saw Bodrum, standing at the top of a hill looking
down to the sea, I started to cry,” he said, having difficulty in
expressing the profound feelings Bodrum awakened in him.
The ambassador comes from a family of Italian origin, and he was told
by many people in Turkey that his attraction to Bodrum might have
a connection with the Etruscans, a civilization that is believed to
have traveled to Italy some 2,500 years ago from Western Anatolia,
of which Bodrum is a part.
As to the intriguing expression “Turkish noises and silence” in
Maffei’s remarks, they make reference to the long historical background
Turkey has with its legacy of Ottomans and Seljuk Turks, and to the
dynamism of the Turkish society with its roots going deep in the
past. The same long past bestows on Turks, the ambassador believes,
the ability to also handle things in peace. “When you need silence,
you have silence, and vice versa,” he said.
The ambassador worked for five years as the director of a department
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that also dealt with sister-city
agreements and is interested in forging sister-city ties between
Turkish and Argentine cities. “This is something I would absolutely
like to promote,” he said.
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A country of emigrants
Argentine society has a rich cultural background. From the mid-19th
century to the 1950s, European immigrants, mostly of Spanish and
Italian origin, and Ottoman citizens from the Middle East arrived in
waves to Argentina. Although not as high in numbers as in past waves
of immigration, Argentina still gets immigrants from its neighboring
countries and to a lesser extent from Asia, in particular from China
and Korea. Some native populations in the country observe their
ancient rituals and traditions to this day.