OPENING TO THE EAST
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday arrived in
Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to pay an official visit.
Erdogan was accompanied by a delegation including Cabinet
ministers, deputies and a group of businessmen. Before his
departure, Erdogan spoke to reporters on the Cyprus issue.
“There are two states and two nations on the island,” Erdogan
pointed out. “The main problem on the island is the acceptance
of both states’ existence. If both of them are recognized, we
accept this. If not, then we’ll take a stance similar to [those
who refuse to recognize Northern Cyprus].” Although for years
Turkish Cypriots have faced obstacles from outside against
their claiming their full human rights, added the premier,
they have always shown a positive attitude while struggling to
explain their case to the world. Stressing that United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan was unbalanced,
Erdogan urged that revisions be made to redress this situation.
Commenting on last weekend’s elections in the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Erdogan stated that the Turkish
Cypriots had made a good choice by not preferring one side to
the other, and that it was time to solve the issue by working
collaboratively. /Turkiye/
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently in Japan
for an official visit, yesterday met with his Japanese
counterpart Junichiro Koizumi to discuss bilateral relations,
recent developments in Iraq, and Japan’s decision to send
troops there to deliver humanitarian aid. The two premiers
also discussed how Japanese troops could contribute to Iraq’s
stability. During their talks, Gul said that Ankara could
allow Japan to use some of its facilities to provide aid to
the Iraqi people. /Aksam/
Tom Weston, the US special coordinator for Cyprus,
yesterday met with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas to discuss last Sunday’s TRNC general
elections. Speaking afterwards, Denktas called their meeting
“fruitful and constructive.” He added that they agreed on the
need for a resolution on the island but had been unable to
reach common ground on some issues. Denktas stated that he had
told Weston about efforts to form a new TRNC government,
adding that forming a national government would be the best
path. For his part, Weston said that only way to reach a
resolution on the island was the United Nations’ Cyprus plan
and added that this could be done by next May, when Greek
Cyprus is set to join the European Union. Later, Weston met
with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Republican Turkish Party
(CTP), one of the four parties that won TRNC Parliament seats
in the recent polls. Weston is expected to travel to Ankara
today. /Aksam/
Speaking yesterday on the results of last weekend’s general
elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the polls proved
the importance of making progress on the Cyprus issue within
the framework of the United Nations’ plan. “The UN plan will
make it easier to reach a resolution on the island,” added
Blair. /Star/
The wish of “true Turkish Cypriots” was expressed in
Sunday's general elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC), EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter
Verheugen told the European Parliament yesterday. “Most
Turkish Cypriots want the resolution of the conflict [over the
island's two nations] on the basis of the United Nations plan,
and they want their membership of the EU,” added Verhuegen.
“The Turkish government has an interest to use the window
which is no longer very big but which is still open today to
push things forward.” /Cumhuriyet/
German Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder is set to visit
Turkey in a little over two months, on Feb. 23-24. During his
contacts in Ankara, Schroeder is expected to stress Berlin’s
support for Ankara’s EU membership bid. In the meantime,
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is set to pay a visit
to Ankara on Jan. 21-22. Among the major issues that the
German officials are expected to discuss with Ankara are
Turkey’s relations with the EU as well as recent developments
in Iraq and on Cyprus. /Cumhuriyet/
US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman yesterday visited
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and conveyed a request from
Washington that Turkey require visas for Iranian citizens in
order to better control its eastern border. Washington wants
Turkey to take more forceful measures to crack down on illegal
border activities and global terrorism, Edelman reportedly
stated. He is also said to have asked for strengthened
security measures near Ankara’s US Embassy and other American
institutions. /Cumhuriyet/
Parliament’s General Assembly began yesterday to debate the
2004 fiscal budget. In his presentation, Finance Minister
Kemal Unakitan said the document had been prepared with great
care in line with its key societal role, adding that it was
designed to put the economy back on track and put an end to
chronic crises. Debate on the budget is expected to conclude
on Wednesday. /Turkiye/
The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, as part
of its standby agreement with Turkey, has reportedly completed
its discussion of the sixth review of Ankara’s economic
program. IMF officials stated that a $502 million loan tranche
had been released, adding that for the time being, some $16 of
$19 million had been extended to Turkey. /Turkiye/
The European Parliament approved the European Union’s 2004
budget yesterday. The 99.7 billion euro budget allocates 780
million euros for two candidate countries, Bulgaria and
Romania, while also granting to Turkey next year some 250
million euros in accession aid. EU officials stated that the
amount was double that of this year. /Turkiye/
Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on last weekend’s European
Union summit. A summary of her column is as follows:
“Vital decisions concerning the European Union’s
enlargement will be taken next spring. The decision on whether
Bulgaria and Romania will be ready for membership in 2007 will
be taken at the EU’s spring summit. The European Commission
will also express its views on Croatia’s full membership
request. Further steps towards the Union for the western
Balkan states will also be decided on. The EU will also sign
its final accession with the 10 new member states in May 2004.
The Cyprus issue should be solved by then.
The most important reason for the EU taking critical
decisions on its future next spring is that the European
Commission’s term of office will end soon. After that date,
Europe will have to deal with parliamentary elections and the
formation of a new commission. The decision on Turkey will be
left to this new commission. Its main duty, however, won’t be
enlargement, but rather the economy.
As the recent Brussels summit ended in a fiasco for
enlargement, there was another very important development
which also concerns us. European Commission head Romano Prodi
received a letter signed by the leaders of Germany and France.
This letter expressed the opposition of the ‘Group of Six’ –
the countries just mentioned plus Britain, Austria, Sweden and
the Netherlands – to the expanding EU budget. They demanded
that expenditures remain one percent of GNP as they have been.
This budget is to be in force from 2007 to 2013. The
consequences of the Group Six approach are obvious: A
reduction of funds, and more problems for new members. This
also demonstrates that the rich countries of Europe no longer
want to spend money for the joint budget as they have
previously.
This is a key reason why Turkey didn’t get an encouraging
message. The phrase we often hear ‘Turkey should overcome its
macroeconomic imbalances and structural problems’ reflects the
EU’s consideration of its new economic situation vis-a-vis
Turkey’s membership bid.
Europe will take its critical decisions on enlargement next
spring, and the same goes for Cyprus. A ‘solution’ is expected
from the Cypriot Turks and Turkey by May 1. With all this in
mind, I say that Europe should decide on beginning talks with
Turkey at its summit next spring. Otherwise we can expect to
see our bid begin to peter out.”
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkey’s relations with
the East. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Right now Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in
Uzbekistan, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Japan. These
are just the latest examples of the opening of Turkish polity
to the East. These visits shouldn’t be considered a course
change. Turkey’s foreign policy goals and priorities are the
same, but it’s putting more emphasis on ‘new dimensions.’
Turkey has ignored the East. By East, I mean the broad
geography extending from the Middle East to the Far East,
covering the Caucasus and Central Asia. All these countries
have different importance for Turkey, especially in terms of
economic potential. However, none of them can be an
alternative to the West, that is, to the US and European
countries in the economic and political areas. Sometimes those
angered with the US or the European Union point to the East an
alternative, but this is neither reasonable nor realistic.
Turkish foreign policy will be successful only as long as it
evaluates the ‘Eastern’ dimension along with the US and the EU.
Actually Turkey’s geographical situation is very suitable
for multidimensional thinking. However, our foreign policy
priorities have caused our attention to move to these
countries and regions. Actually most of these countries show
more of an interest in Turkey than we show in them, for
example Japan. Japan has been watching Turkey not just for the
purpose of selling its goods or promoting trade. It has many
experts on Turkey who speak our language and know our history
and culture. In addition, many Japanese students learn about
us. Japan declared 2003 ‘The Year of Turkey,’ and there is a
great interest in various cultural and artistic activities
promoting our nation. During his current contacts in Tokyo,
Gul has argued that Turkish-Japanese relations should be
improved not only bilaterally, but also on the basis of third
countries. For example, great benefits could be realized for
Iraq’s reconstruction if Turkey’s information and experience
were combined with Japan’s financial resources and technology.
This would establish a wholly new field of cooperation between
our two countries.
Gul told how Japan is one of the rare few countries which
doesn’t require visas for Turkish citizens, and that there are
2,000 registered Turkish citizens in this country. Throughout
the Year of Turkey, the interest and sympathy of Japanese
towards Turks is continuing.”
