Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has firmly ruled our debates and arguments positioning Turkey as a party that needs to be persuaded by the NATO alliance on certain issues, such as a planned NATO missile defense system, stating that Turkey is a not a partner of the alliance, but an owner of it.
The mood in Turkey is as if “there is a missile war,” and as if the question is on “which side will Turkey be in this war,” Davutoğlu said on Saturday, while speaking to a group of journalists on board a plane en route to Shanghai, from Xian, as part of his six-day-long visit to several Chinese cities.
Davutoğlu recalled a NATO ministerial-level meeting that took place in Brussels last month when NATO’s secretary-general urged member states to endorse a proposed anti-missile system that would protect Europe and North America. The summit was a venue for a heated debate on relations between NATO and the European Union, Davutoğlu told reporters. “After an EU foreign minister said, ‘We see Turkey as a very important partner,’ I took the floor and said, ‘We are not a partner here, we are an owner. We are an owner of NATO and not a partner’,” he explained, criticizing EU officials for speaking with “two hats” at NATO meetings.
Davutoğlu was apparently referring to problems stemming from the EU membership of the Greek Cypriot administration, which is not recognized by Ankara. Greek Cyprus, representing the entire island as a full member of the EU since 2004, blocks Turkish participation in European defense institutions such as the European Defence Agency (EDA), the body set up to oversee EU defense policy. Turkey has responded by obstructing the Greek Cypriot government’s use of NATO facilities and NATO cooperation with Greek Cyprus on defense and security issues more generally.
On his way to Shanghai, the minister reiterated Turkey’s basic principles regarding the proposed missile defense system. Turkey says it is not against the establishment of a missile defense system for NATO’s European allies but insists in talks with the US that the project should be built for defensive, not offensive, purposes. Any clear reference to Iran or any other neighboring country as a threat in the proposed missile defense system runs counter to Ankara’s chief foreign policy objective: zero problems with neighbors.
“First of all, Turkey is not a country outside of NATO that is alone and is being persuaded by NATO. It is a country at the center of NATO and this characteristic is very obvious. For example, they ask whether NATO is losing Turkey,” Davutoğlu said, in an apparent reference to claims that Turkey has been alienating its US supporters and needs to demonstrate its commitment to its partnership with the West.
Such a question is humiliating for Turkey and Turkey is not an object to be lost or to be found, Davutoğlu said, reiterating that such a question should not be asked by anybody if the parties are in an alliance and a union. “When you say ‘we,’ it means that you’re regarding Turkey as an outsider. Every issue is discussed all together in NATO. Here, Turkey’s position needs to be taken into consideration, too. NATO, as a whole, regularly reviews its concept of threat and accordingly takes precautions as a security organization. Turkey’s objection to these precautions is out of question. Because this is a security organization where plans are made according to possible security risks, there is nothing more natural than that,” Davutoğlu said.
“Ballistic missiles are a threat in the world; there are nuclear threats and there are also terror threats,” he said, adding that, principally, discussions on such issues are held within NATO and that technical preparations are made according to the results of those discussions. “Turkey is a part of this [process] and engages actively in those discussions,” he explained.
01 November 2010, Monday
SERVET YANATMA XIAN, SHANGHA
Leave a Reply