Category: Balkans

Turkey welcomes UN court ruling on Macedonia-Greece row

Turkey welcomes UN court ruling on Macedonia-Greece row

06 December 2011 | 16:06 | FOCUS News Agency

Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans

Ankara. Turkey welcomed on Tuesday a ruling by the UN’s top court that Greece was wrong to block Macedonia’s entry to NATO because of name dispute, AFP reported.

The International Court of Justice ruled Monday that NATO member Greece had breached a 1995 interim accord by blocking Macedonia’s entry into the alliance in 2008 over a dispute over the former Yugoslav republic’s name.

“We welcome the decision and hope it will accelerate Macedonia’s integration with Europe and Euro-Atlantic organisations and provide it with support on the legal ground,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Turkey, also a NATO member, would continue to support Macedonia for the process of its integration with Europe and transatlantic organisations to be concluded “without delay”.

Greece alleges that use of the name Macedonia suggests a territorial claim to the northern Greek province of the same name while Skopje maintains that changing the name would be a denial of its own national identity and language.

via Turkey welcomes UN court ruling on Macedonia-Greece row – FOCUS Information Agency.

December 7, 2011
Turkey in the Balkans: The good old days?

Turkey in the Balkans

The good old days?

Talk of an Ottoman revival in the region seems exaggerated

Nov 5th 2011 | BELGRADE AND SARAJEVO | from the print edition

A shadow over an Ottoman domain

“SARAJEVO won today as much as Istanbul,” declared Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, after his election victory in June. His comment excited new debate in the western Balkans about Turkey’s activist foreign policy. Are the Ottomans coming back? Several examples suggest not.

In Ankara on October 22nd, Muslim politicians from Bosnia and Sandzak in Serbia praised the Turks for mending a rift between Serbia’s two Islamic groups. The deal swiftly collapsed. The Turks were also praised in 2010 for reconciling Serbia with Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) politicians in Sarajevo. Yet relations between Bosniak, Serb and Croat politicians in Bosnia remain icy. A recent poll showed that views of Turkey in the region divide pretty clearly between Muslims (pro) and Christians (anti).

Turkey does better with soft power. Turkish soap operas have edged out Latin American ones in popularity. The Turks are busy restoring Ottoman monuments. Turkish schools and universities, some linked to the controversial Gulen movement, now educate several thousand pupils in Muslim regions. Petrit Selimi, Kosovo’s deputy foreign minister, notes that in the past Turkey was seen as “more backward than us.” Now, by contrast, it is a “modernising force.”

The western Balkans matter little economically. High-profile road and airport projects give a false impression of huge Turkish investment. Except in Albania and Kosovo, there has been more talk than cash. Alida Vracic, an analyst in Sarajevo, says that when Bosniaks go to Istanbul there is a lot of “kiss, kiss” for Balkan cousins, but the money goes to Serbia. Even there Turkey is not among the top 20 foreign investors.

The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, waxes lyrical about a “golden age” of the Balkans with Turkey. But Zarko Petrovic, a Serbian commentator, says the region’s interest is largely emotional. Accession to the European Union remains the priority. And, as one Serbian official mutters, “we don’t want to get too close to Turkey, because we don’t want to be seen as part of an EU losers’ club.”

via Turkey in the Balkans: The good old days? | The Economist.

November 4, 2011
“Turkey lobbies for Kosovo recognition”

Source: Tanjug

ISTANBUL — Albanian President Bamir Topi has said Turkey is lobbying hard with other countries to get them to recognize Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence.

“I had a chance to bring up the issue of the recognition of Kosovo’s independence with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who informed me he discussed the issue with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff,” Topi said Wednesday after a visit to Turkey.

He told Istanbul-based daily Hurriyet that Brazil was among the 95 countries that still have not recognized Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008.

Along with Afghanistan and the U.S., Turkey was among the first to recognize Kosovo and has been trying to win support for its independence among Islamic countries. There have been unsuccessful attempts to pass a special resolution in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“The outlook is optimistic and we expect more countries will recognize the state of Kosovo,” Topi said in the interview.

When asked if there have been formal or informal talks about a possible union between Albania and Kosovo, the Albanian president said these were two countries which wanted to become members of the European Union.

“In a symbolic sense, the union of the two countries will happen in Brussels, just as it is happening with other countries,” he explained.

via B92 – News – “Turkey lobbies for Kosovo recognition”.

October 16, 2011
Serbia wins qualified EU invite, Turkey criticized

By Justyna Pawlak

BRUSSELS | Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:48pm EDT

(Reuters) – The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that Serbia become a candidate to join the European Union as a reward for democratic reforms and the capture of war crimes fugitives, but expressed concern that Turkey’s membership drive had stalled.

In its annual report on countries lining up to join the EU, the EU executive said Serbia’s new status was conditional on it resuming talks on practical cooperation with its former breakaway province Kosovo. The talks broke down in September.

“I recommend granting Serbia candidate status on the understanding that Serbia re-engages in the dialogue with Kosovo and is moving swiftly to the implementation in good faith of agreements reached to date,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said in a speech in Brussels.

In another positive signal for the western Balkans, where years of bloody conflict has delayed democratic transformation, the EU executive also recommended on Wednesday the bloc starts entry talks with tiny ex-Yugoslav state Montenegro, in recognition of its efforts to combat organized crime.

Serbia has satisfied one of the main demands of the European Union for membership by catching fugitives wanted for crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, including Ratko Mladic the former Bosnian Serb military commander who was on the run for 16 years until he was caught in May this year.

But its relations with Kosovo remain a sticking point. Belgrade lost control over Kosovo in 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign halted a Serb counter-insurgency war against ethnic Albanian rebels. With Western backing, Pristina declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize.

Tensions have worsened in recent weeks over border and trade disputes that led to clashes in which one policeman died and dozens of NATO peacekeepers and Serb protesters were injured.

EU envoys have pushed the two sides this week to resume talks but no date for a new round was set, diplomats said.

Relations with Serbia and Kosovo are also a divisive issue in the EU, where five EU members refuse to recognize Pristina’s independence.

Some EU capitals, led by EU powerbroker Germany, say Serbia needs to do more to earn EU approval and will be reluctant to approve the Commission’s recommendation if talks between the two do not resume. Others worry about leaving Kosovo behind.

In a nod to Kosovo’s supporters, the Commission said it would speed up work on lifting visa restrictions for Kosovars.

The Serb government welcomed the Commission’s decision on its status and said democratic reforms would continue.

“Of course, this is not the end. We must continue with implementation and reforms, but this is a very significant day for Serbia,” Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said in Belgrade.

JUGGLING TURKEY

In the same report, the Commission criticized Turkey, the largest of EU candidates, for not doing enough to normalize relations with EU member Cyprus. In a reference to a recent spat over gas drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean, it told Ankara to avoid threats that could further damage ties.

Fuele said both Brussels and Ankara were frustrated by the lack of progress in Turkey’s EU accession, which is caused in part by opposition from Cyprus as well as by French and German reluctance to admit the largely Muslim state.

“Regrettably, accession negotiations have not moved forward for more than one year. There are frustrations about this on both sides,” he said, adding that the EU should work out ways to keep Ankara engaged.

“These (frustrations) should not blind us from the importance of our relationship, or the underlying fundamentals, which remain good. I believe it is time to work for a renewed positive agenda in EU-Turkey relations.”

European policymakers are concerned about losing influence with Turkey at a time when Ankara’s clout is rising in the Middle East and North Africa, where popular revolts this year have created uncertainty over future alliances.

Turkey also oversees important energy corridors from Asia to Europe, and wields significant influence over whether illegal migrants from Africa can reach Europe.

Addressing overall ambivalence toward enlargement that has spread through large parts of Europe, the Commission said the pace of talks will be increasingly dependent on progress of democratic reforms and efforts to curb corruption and support freedom of expressions in candidate states.

The EU sees serious efforts to combat graft and crime, which are rife in the western Balkans, a region of more than 20 million people, as a vital part of their EU preparations.

(Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Belgrade; Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; editing by Rex Merrifield)

via Serbia wins qualified EU invite, Turkey criticized | Reuters.

October 13, 2011
Turkey lobbying hard for Kosovo, says Tirana

ERISA DAUTAJ ŞENERDEM

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Albaninan President Bamir Topi speaks at a meeting in Istanbul. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Turkey is strongly lobbying for increasing the number of countries that recognize Kosovo, according to Albaninan President Bamir Topi.

“I had the opportunity to raise [the issue of recognition of Kosovo] with Turkish President Abdullah Gül, who also informed me that he had a discussion with the President of Brazil Dilma Roussef on the issue of Kosovo’s recognition,” Topi said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News after participating in a Turkey-Albania Business Council meeting at Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) in Istanbul.

Brazil is not among the 85 states that have recognized Kosovo since it declared independence in 2007. The Gulf state of Kuwait announced yesterday that it has recognized Kosovo as an independent country and has decided to establish diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level, according to an AFP report.

Turkey’s authorities have a solid resolve to support new recognitions of Kosovo, and are lobbying other countries continue recognizing the new state, Topi said. “The perspective is optimistic and we expect more countries to recognize Kosovo in the future.”

The position of the Albanian state regarding Kosovo is the same. The situation in Kosovo is irrevocable regarding its independence and functioning as a sovereign state, the Albanian president said. “This has been demonstrated even by the planet’s strongest states, including the United States, a majority of European Union member states and Turkey.”

Regarding efforts by the EU to bring Kosovo and Serbia back to the negotiating table after tension in northern Kosovo, Topi said: “I am confident that the EU will not fail in the orientation of these discussions.”

Kosovo’s government ruled out talks with Serbia over the flashpoint on Oct. 10, as the EU facilitator for the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue, Robert Cooper, began a two-day visit in a bid to revive talks between the two sides, according to an AFP report. “Kosovo has a clear platform (for the talks) with red lines. The independence, territorial integrity and internal structure and system of Kosovo,” Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in a statement.

“Talks also have their own complications. They do not always progress as required. But this is a process and within a process. We encourage fluidity and continuity of negotiations,” Albania’s President Topi said. The talks, as already stated by Kosovo’s institutions, will be realized for all issues of reciprocal interests of technical character, but starting from positions of sovereignty, which means Kosovo and Serbia can negotiate as two independent sovereign countries, he added.

The dialogue was interrupted in late September following a new wave of violence in northern Kosovo where the Serb population, which remains loyal to Belgrade, is concentrated. The situation there remains tense.

Asked whether there are formal or informal talks between Albania and Kosovo on a possible unification of the two countries, Topi said: “Albania and Kosovo are two states that have a single aspiration, to be members of the EU, and in a symbolic sense, unification of the two states will occur in Brussels, as it will happen for other countries.”

Topi also called for Turkish companies to invest more in Albania, especially in the tourism sector, during his speech at the business council. “Economic relations do not yet respond to the excellent relations between the two countries at the political level. We have taken notes of all suggestions [by Turkish business representatives] and will work to attract more Turkish investments to Albania, particularly in the fields of tourism, energy and mining,” he said.

via Turkey lobbying hard for Kosovo, says Tirana – Hurriyet Daily News.

October 12, 2011
Turkey’s Trial by Fire in the Middle East

By Özdem Sanberk, Director of USAK

Turkey has taken a position regarding the events underway in Syria that fits in with the existing general principles and practices of its foreign policy. The good relations with the Assad regime it promoted in years gone by do not entitle it to act contrary to the values underlying Turkish foreign policy in the process now under way.

Being an international role model implies, in one sense, that other countries make efforts to adopt your ways in accordance with the example you have set. Even if there are some among Turkey’s neighbours who are engaged in exactly that, Ankara itself is making no such claim pointing it out. Turkey is a country whose society and goverment have sought peace in their own region and the rest of the world for decades, and a country whose goal is steady development and prosperity.

Naturally, Turkey would also like to see the same developments toward peace and stability in Syria, its closest neighbour. Turkey also has a democratic multiparty parliamentary tradition which has operated for sixty years, and ultimately traces its roots back even further. Its experience is unique among countries in the world where majorities of people subscribe to the traditions of Islam.

We are just at the start of an arduous journey

Turkey is conscious of the fact that multiparty democracy will not settle down overnight among its neighbors to the south. Regardless, the fire which has broken out in Syria needs to be brought under control to minimize the damage, and the tragedy now being played out needs to be brought to a conclusion as quickly as possible. Syria is the country with which Turkey shares its longest land border and whose people are important to it. It is natural for Turkey to strategize how it can be of assistance in resolving Syria’s problems beginning with the humanitarian and security aspects.

It is not only Syria which is in flux: a massive movement for change is underway all across North Africa, or more precisely, across the entire Arab world. This transformation may last for decades, and it may well be that we have not yet even traversed the very first stage of it. Let us not forget that changes in Central and Eastern Europe after the breakup of the Soviet Union took ten years to complete, despite the political and economic opportunities the European Union made available. Deficiencies in the process are still visible as well. In the Arab world, there is no equivalent source of oxygen for the transformation process. In these difficult times, the Arabs have nothing like the Marshall Plan or an international system like the Council of Europe which might provide guidance on democratic matters. The peoples who live in this region are now only at the beginning of a long and winding road which will continue ahead of them for many years. The processes of democratic and economic development will play out in the Arab lands in a lengthy and arduous fashion. It is certainly an error to come up with hasty conclusions or quick judgments.

The role of the European Union and the United States

As the processes work themselves out, the pains suffered by the Arab peoples will not abate. Neighboring countries like Turkey will also have to expect their share of this instability and lack of security. That is why it is not surprising in the least that we are showing so much interest in the developments in our neighbor Syria. To a considerable extent, whether or not the transition process can be made easier is up to the attitudes adopted by America and Europe. President Barack Obama recently spoke of boosting economic progress in the region and opportunities for employment, in addition to the obligations of financial organizations. That was definitely a step in the right direction. However, could this be enough to stop the mass migration and put out the fire that is now burning away? So far there has been no word from Europe, which is the area most affected by mass migration. Is the European Union ready to adopt new policies on trade, aid, and investment to halt the migration and increase the gross national products of these countries—which are almost all former colonies of its member states—and reduce unemployment in them? Furthermore, until the Middle East dispute is resolved, can any peace process in the Middle East be successful? Israel, the US, and the UN all have responsibilities which hardly need to be mentioned.

Turkey is acting on the basis of its traditions

The problems of Syria have to be viewed inside a broad regional and international framework of politics, economics, and society. We fall into an error if we take the easy way out and treat them as just a sectarian Islamic conflict. Preferring to do the latter will not make it easier to find a solution.

Our neighbor Syria is experiencing major humanitarian problems. If it was not, its citizens would not be fleeing to Turkey in the thousands. Regrettably, blood has been spilt. In close proximity, Turkey feels their suffering.

When humanitarian aid is required, states do not wait to be asked. This rule is surely keeping with the basic values and traditions of Turkish foreign policy. The good relations developed with the Assad regime in the recent past do not lead to the conclusion that Turkey should behave differently and violate its basic values during the process now underway.

It’s clear that Turkey is not one of the contending sides in the dispute. Syria and the wishes of its people are one and the same for us. Whatever Islamic sect and ethnic group may be involved, the blood being shed is Syrian blood. Turkey’s position toward all Syrians is fraternal and treats them equally. It sees the troubles which Syria is experiencing as its own troubles. If any of our neighbors are in need, no matter who comes to our borders, Turkey will lend them a hand regardless.

The possibility of a civil war and any instability which could spill over into the rest of the region would mean tragedy for Syria and the Middle East as a whole. Following the elections, Turkish foreign policy in all aspects has focused on Syria. Humanitarian aid and economic support are among the two main instruments of diplomacy, and Turkey is continuing to carry out its obligations in the region. At this stage, Turkey is attempting to maintain honest and constructive relations with all the sides involved. That is simply what the Turkish people expect from their government.

*This article was firstly published in July issue of USAK’s monthly strategy journal ANALİST in Turkish.

www.turkishweekly.net, 9 August 2011

August 9, 2011