Turkey aims at regional leadership amid islamic world turmoils
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Xinhua, December 4, 2011
With the politics in the Middle East and North Africa in transition, Turkey seeks to play a leading role in the region's agenda. Some new trends of Turkey's foreign policies toward the Islamic world have brought the country into spotlight.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu participated in the Arab League's (AL) meeting held on Nov. 27 over sanctions against Syria for its defiance to an ultimatum demanding it allow in an observer mission. Ankara supported the AL measures towards its former ally, despite its economic stake in Syria, as Turkey is Syria's largest trading partner.
However, Turkey signaled reluctance for unilateral military involvement in Syria, in response to France' proposal of a guarded humanitarian corridor to relieve Syrians with Turkey providing primary forces for security and logistics, though it left the door open for a buffer zone on the border under a UN mandate.
"Turkey's military intervention in Syria is completely wrong ... We are not sending soldiers to Syria and we are not intervening," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said in a TV interview last week.
Analysts deem the reason for Turkey's tough stance in opposing Syria's crackdown on protesters is that it considers the neighbor' s matters as part of Turkey's "internal" affairs.
"Turkey approaches the problem in Syria as if it were Turkey's southern cities of Urfa or Hatay," Muharrem Hilmi Ozev, a Middle East expert with the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.
However, Turkey is careful in taking steps, Ozev added, as it has to abide by the international law and does not want to offend other Arab countries.
Once a close ally to Syria, Turkey used to pursue a foreign policy of "zero problems with neighbors". But when the regional turmoil broke out, Turkey launched assertive security and economic measures as part of the new foreign policy developed by Davutoglu, chief foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2003.
As a Muslim member of NATO, "Turkey's emergence as a regional leader is in line with the interests of the West," Ozev said, adding that since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) took power in 2002, Turkey's engagement in the Middle East accelerated.
Erdogan and his young Islamist colleagues formed the AKP in 2001 and won the general elections the next year. Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 and is now serving his third term.
As a leader of Islamic movement, Erdogan challenged Turkey's secular elite, particularly the military, which had long upheld the country's secular governing traditions since the founding of the republic.
It was remarkable of Turkey when it denied the U.S. troops a passage on its soil for entering Iraq in 2003, a move applauded by the Islamic world.
After decades of passivity, Turkey emerged as an important diplomatic power in the Middle East, as it forged strategic relationships and embarked on economic cooperative projects with countries in the region.
Moreover, Ankara has taken facilitating roles in regional dialogues such as the Syria-Israel proximity talks in 2008, the Palestinian reconciliation, the participation of Sunni groups in Iraq's 2005 parliamentary elections.
Some analysts called Turkey's new strategy neo-Ottomanism led by the Islamic-leaning AKP. But the term was denied by Turkish officials since it hints imperial motive.
According to Davutoglu, historical and cultural affinities provide an advantage for Turkey to pursue its regional interests, particularly trade opportunities and political and social stability. Ankara's new policies seeks realignment with countries in the Middle East.
However, "it does not mean that Turkey is abandoning its engagement with the West," Ozev said, explaining that the country is enjoying some new political and economic opportunities in the region.
Turkey has showed its support to Hamas and voiced harsh rhetoric to Israel's attacks and blockade against Gaza. In particular, Ankara's condemnation on the Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009 chilled the relations between the two countries. Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in 2010, which killed nine Turks, further strained their ties.
Turkey also vetoed a UN Security Council decision against Iran' s nuclear program, which raised speculations that Turkey was abandoning its Western alliance, though it reiterated its engagement with the West by a 2011 decision to host a NATO radar system.
These diplomatic stances have won Turkey praises in the Islamic world. Moreover, with its large Muslim population, democratic system and economic success, Turkey has been a source of inspiration for countries in the region aspiring for a democratic change.
Western countries have supported Turkey to emerge as a role model for the Muslim countries during the transition brought about by the so-called "Arab spring," Ozev said.
Embracing the idea of role model, Erdogan visited Egypt in September and expressed his hope for Egypt to opt for a secular government that is similar to the Turkish model, rather than an Islamic one.
However, Semih Idiz, columnist of daily Milliyet, told Xinhua that Turkey's leadership strategy has been stumped by the Syrian issue, since it failed to persuade President Assad into freezing the crackdown on the protesters.
Nevertheless, Turkey's role as a leader has been strengthened, he said.
The turmoil in the Arab countries presented substantial challenges to Turkey's "zero problems with neighbors" policy. It showed flexibility in dealing with countries scorched by protests in quest of leadership in the region, or as Idiz put it, "Turkey has made major U-turns in its foreign policy."
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