23 March 2014 /DENİZ ARSLAN, ANKARA
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has brushed aside mocking analyses suggesting that Turkish foreign policy, which aims to have “zero problems with neighbors,” has turned into “zero neighbors” as Turkey’s relationships with a number of neighbors and allies has turned sour in the last few years.
Today, Turkish foreign policy is suffering from a bad reputation due to trouble on multiple fronts. There was an alleged arms transfer to Nigeria, which has been beset by clashes between the military and the jihadist militant group Boko Haram, another alleged arms transfer to Syrian opposition groups, a White House refutation regarding remarks Erdoğan attributed to United States President Barack Obama and recent allegations suggesting that Saudi Arabian businessman Yasin al-Qadi manipulated the Turkish stance on Egypt by using his close ties with Erdoğan.
Erdoğan, speaking to the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) on a news program on Thursday, rejected the idea that Turkey has almost no neighbors left with which it has good relations.
“If you put the Syria and Ukraine-Crimea issues aside, we have very good relations with other countries,” claimed Erdoğan. He mentioned that Turkey has differences with Iran on Syria, as Iran supported Bashar al-Assad’s regime against opposition groups in the country. Erdoğan also stressed that he went to Sochi during the Olympics to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Syria being the sole issue on the agenda. He told Putin, “History will judge you differently than us [Turkey],” adding that despite their differences Turkey has maintained a positive relationship with Iran and Russia.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday that Turkey does not recognize the Crimean referendum, calling it “illegitimate” one day after the Crimean people voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. While the US and the European Union move towards imposing sanctions on Russia following the Crimean Parliament’s decision to secede from Ukraine, NATO member Turkey is pushing for “diplomacy, rather than further sanctions” in order to maintain positive relations with Russia.
“Turkey is the only country that is a neighbor both to Russia and Ukraine and that has direct access to Crimea. It is natural that we consider ourselves more directly affected than any other state. Our stance of supporting peace through diplomacy is also natural,” Davutoğlu said at a press conference on Monday.
Turkey’s relationship with Iraq has also suffered as Turkey has been trying to bypass the government in Baghdad to pipe oil directly from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is against the deal and says that piping oil from the KRG to Turkey is a violation of their constitution, and that only the central government has the authority to manage Iraq’s energy resources.
With regard to Syria’s ongoing civil war, reports in American and other media outlets have long suggested that Turkey has been turning a blind eye to radical fighters entering Syria from its territory. An al-Qaeda network based in Iran has been helping transport fighters and money to Syria via Turkey, the US Department of the Treasury said in February.
White House refutes Erdoğan’s comments
Turkey’s relationship with the US has deteriorated so much that for the first time in Turkish-American history, a Turkish prime minister has been rebuffed in a White House statement. The comment was in response to televised remarks that Erdoğan attributed to Obama regarding Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US. Erdoğan claimed that after a phone conversation he had with Obama, the US President supported Turkey’s request to extradite Gülen, who Erdoğan has accused of creating a “state within the state.” Following Erdoğan’s remarks, the White House issued a statement refuting the prime minister’s comments attributed to Obama.
The US administration has mostly opted to remain silent following corruption and bribery investigations into members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and their relatives, members of the judiciary and law enforcement officials; a restructuring of Turkey’s judicial system in a way that gives more powers to the government and raises concerns about the separation of powers; a new Internet law that restricts freedom of expression; and the government’s tight control over the media.
Unlike EU officials who have openly criticized Turkey on such issues, US officials have repeatedly said, “The United States is not and will not become involved in Turkey’s domestic politics.”
Obama stressed the importance of sound policies rooted in the rule of law to reassure financial markets and nurture a predictable investment environment in a phone call to Erdoğan on Feb. 19, the first after six months. Obama and Erdoğan spoke on the phone 18 times during the 2011 Arab Spring and Obama reportedly said that Erdoğan was one of the five world leaders he spoke to most often at that time. However, the last phone conversation between the two leaders was in August 2013.
Turkey-Israel relations still sour
Turkish-Israeli relations turned sour after a Gaza-bound aid flotilla was attacked by Israeli forces in May 2010, killing eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American. The incident caused a weakening of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, with the Israeli ambassador being expelled from Ankara in September 2011 after Israel refused to apologize for the killings. Israel formally apologized in 2013 for what it called “operational mistakes” that might have led to the death of Turkish citizens. Turkey has asked for three things from Israel in the light of the incident: an apology, compensation and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. Currently, Turkey and Israel are negotiating a compensation deal, but an agreement has not yet been reached.
Erdoğan has also suggested that Israel was behind the military coup that ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in early July, adding that the Turkish government has evidence to prove Israel’s hand in it.
Has al-Qadi influenced foreign policy?
A recently leaked recording purportedly between al-Qadi and Erdoğan’s son Bilal suggests that, after a warning from al-Qadi, Erdoğan took back anti-coup remarks he had made and softened his tone on Egypt, creating doubts about the motives of the AK Party’s foreign policy in Egypt.
Cyprus the only feather in the cap
Seemingly, the only foreign policy area where there has been progress is the Cyprus issue. The leaders of Turkish and Greek Cyprus met in Nicosia in early February and resumed peace talks with the aim of reunifying the island.
Cyprus is divided into a Turkish north and an internationally recognized Greek south. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) is recognized only by Turkey, which does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.
By the end of February, a historic development occurred when, simultaneously, a Turkish Cypriot negotiator visited Athens and one from Greek Cyprus visited Ankara — an unprecedented development — following the resumed peace talks. Ankara, along with the US, pushed for the start of the negotiations but it is not clear whether there will be further progress on the issue.