Libya crisis raises Turkey, France tensions

By Justin Vela and Alina Lehtinen for Southeast European Times in Istanbul — 13/04/11

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France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in February. [Reuters]

Ankara has long been at odds with Paris over its view that Turkey should not join the EU. Now, the conflict in Libya has only heightened tensions. The French were one of the first to say there should be a military no-fly zone over Libya.

According to French foreign policy expert Ulla Holm, from the Danish Institute for International Studies, France wanted to act fast in Libya because it had been criticised over its slow reactions in Tunisia and Egypt.

“France wants to represent itself as the country that knows about the south. Sarkozy wanted to act as quickly as possible in relation to Libya in order to forget what happened in Tunisia,” Holm told SETimes.

During a speech in Istanbul earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused France of thinking more about the oil resources in Libya than humanitarian aspects. “I wish that those who only see oil, gold mines and underground treasures when they look in that direction would see the region through their conscience from now on,” said Erdogan.

Experts have said that Erdogan’s rhetoric surrounding the Western intervention in Libya is aimed at both bolstering Turkey’s influence as a global player and appealing to his party’s domestic base ahead of June 12th elections.

Just before the Libya operation begun, France chose not to invite Turkey to a summit in Paris. After the summit, Turkish leaders accused France of trying to strong-arm the Libya operations.

“France was handling the whole situation and monopolising it. It was against that attitude that Turkey has taken an opposition to,” explained Bogazici University Professor Gun Kut.

Both Turkey and France hope to be regional powers in North Africa. Turkey wants to appear among the powerful and influential globally, and France wants to be seen as a major player in the Mediterranean region.

After World War I, Britain, France and Italy replaced the Ottomans as colonial powers in North Africa. Holm explained that because of its colonial past, France considers the area as a part of its sphere of influence. Even though Libya was never a French colony, France wants to play a role in the entire region.

“France has a very close relationship with North Africa because of its colonial past. France has close ties with the Europeanised elite, especially in Morocco and Tunisia. Many people from these countries received their higher education in France,” Holm said.

Kut does not think that Turkish and French interests in North Africa are colliding and said that Turkey is only reacting to Sarkozy’s decision to exclude the country from the decision-making process.

“All of a sudden Turkey found itself in a position to be sidelined and marginalised by France,” he said. “Otherwise, Turkey does not have disagreements with France [over Libya].”

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

via Libya crisis raises Turkey, France tensions (SETimes.com).