“If they (Syria) are really serious on peace, and not just a peace process which may serve them to extricate them from international isolation, if they are really serious, they will come and sit with us.”
U.S. DIPLOMACY
The overtures to Olmert helped Assad’s relations with the West, long frayed over Syrian involvement in neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq, alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and sponsorship of Palestinian militants.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is trying to advance Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking as well as stabilise Iraq, has sent envoys to coax Syria into the circle of diplomacy.
Like Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Ayalon is from the far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, junior partner to Netanyahu’s conservative Likud in the coalition government.
Lieberman keeps a low media profile and has largely ceded public diplomacy to Ayalon, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, accompanied by Zafer Caglayan, the state minister responsible for foreign trade, visited Iraq on August 11, as part of an emerging strategic dialogue between Ankara and Baghdad. Prior to departing for Baghdad, Davutoglu held a lengthy press briefing and outlined the contours of the country’s Iraq policy. He said that Iraq is going through a dynamic process and is on the verge of an important transition, and added that Turkey is willing to play a constructive role in this process. He summarized the major goal of his trip as “conveying [to the Iraqis] the principled attitude Turkey has been pursuing on Iraq’s security, peace and future, and reiterating that Turkey stands with the Iraqi people regarding any development affecting the future of Iraq” (Anadolu Ajansi, August 11).
In Iraq, he met his counterpart Hosyar Zebari and other Iraqi officials. During the joint press briefing with Zebari, he repeated his views about Iraq and the future of the region. He emphasized that Turkey’s relations with Iraq are based on four key principles: a common security area, high-level political dialogue, economic interdependence and peaceful coexistence on the basis of their common culture. He maintained that through unhindered cooperation in various areas, the two countries will shape the future of the region together.
Davutoglu said that as a reflection of this shared understanding, Turkey will assist Iraq regarding the provision of sufficient water from its dams on the Euphrates to meet the needs of Iraqi farmers. Zebari reiterated Iraq’s support for Turkey’s fight against terrorism. Turkey and Iraq, with the participation of the United States, have initiated a trilateral mechanism to coordinate measures against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The latest meeting in this process took place in Ankara last month (EDM, July 29). Zebari, an ethnic Kurd, pledged that the Baghdad government and the Kurdish regional administration in Northern Iraq will implement the findings of the trilateral mechanism.
Davutoglu’s visit occurred within the context of the recently launched “High Level Strategic Cooperation Council” (HLSCC). This concept builds on the intensive diplomatic traffic, which began with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Baghdad in July 2008, and continued with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s visit to Turkey in March, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit to Baghdad in the same month and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit to Ankara in July.
The HLSCC is conceived as an inter-governmental forum to be co-chaired by prime ministers. As part of this process, eight ministers responsible for different fields (foreign affairs, interior, transportation, foreign trade, energy, development, health, and environment and forestry) will maintain communication at bilateral level to develop joint projects. The ministers will meet at least three times annually, while technical delegations will meet quarterly to develop joint action plans to be finalized by the annual prime-ministerial summits (www.orsam.org.tr, August 11). During his meetings in Iraq, Davutoglu also discussed preparations for the next HLSCC, expected to be held during Erdogan’s Baghdad visit in October.
Davutoglu believes that the flourishing ties between Turkey and Iraq under this format represent a new partnership model. The importance he places on this process reflects his view of Iraq as not only a friend and neighboring country with which Turkey shares a common destiny, but also an important strategic partner. Davutoglu explicitly acknowledges that through such channels of mutual cooperation, Ankara hopes to integrate the economies of Iraq and Turkey and create a common area of security (Anadolu Ajansi, August 11).
Meanwhile, the Turkish government also hopes to initiate a similar process with Syria (Cihan, July 23) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (EDM, July 13), as well as promoting a larger role for the Organization of Islamic Countries in the region (EDM, May 28). Through such cooperation schemes, Davutoglu wants to bolster relations among regional countries at governmental and societal levels, starting with Iraq and Syria, and turn Mesopotamia into a prosperous region. In this regard, Davutoglu confirmed in Baghdad that Turkey plans to institutionalize a trilateral mechanism between Ankara, Baghdad and Damascus based on its earlier meetings.
Ankara’s motivation in initiating the Turkish-Iraqi strategic dialogue process is varied, yet the most immediate concern appears to be related to the security situation in Iraq. Ankara realizes that the uncertainty surrounding the future of Iraq beyond the planned withdrawal of American forces might undermine regional stability, hence eventually posing a serious threat to Turkey’s security. The Iraqi national political system still remains fragile and if the various Iraqi groups cannot manage to form a workable political system, there is a risk that Iraq might descend into civil war. Turkey is one of the first countries that would be affected by any instability in Iraq, as demonstrated by its experiences of the aftermath of the first Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War. Therefore, Davutoglu wants to engage the Iraqi factions to facilitate the formation of national institutions and ease the pain of the transition period, which, if mishandled, could destabilize the country and the entire region. Ankara’s ultimate objective in Iraq is to ensure that the country’s territorial integrity and political unity can be preserved during the transition period, so that regional peace will be maintained (EDM, July 27).
Moreover, Turkey also has important commercial interests in Iraq, which again depend on preserving Iraq’s political stability. As Caglayan stressed, Iraq is Turkey’s fifth largest export market, and this year the bilateral trade volume is expected to reach $7 billion, making a 58 percent increase on the previous year. Turkey expects to boost the bilateral trade volume to $20 billion by 2011. Turkish firms are involved in various infrastructure projects and Iraq is a popular destination for Turkish consumer goods. Turkish contractors have already secured several multi-billion dollar projects in Iraq (Cihan, August 11). Partnership in energy is also another engine of mutual cooperation, as reflected in Maliki’s attendance at the Nabucco Summit in Ankara last month. If Iraq can successfully manage the post-invasion challenges and embark on a steady path towards economic recovery (thanks to its oil and gas revenues), it might emerge as a major market for Turkish businesses, perhaps also aiding Turkey’s own economic recovery.
Dawood Baghestani, Iraqi Kurdish editor-in-chief of "Israel-Kurd", holds a copy of the magazine in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The newly launched monthly magazine has caused a stir in northern Iraq after calling on Jewish Kurds to return to the region. (AFP/File/Safin Hamed)
by Abdel Hamid Zebari
ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) – A new magazine in Iraq’s Kurdistan region has caused furore among conservative Muslims with a rousing call for Jews to leave Israel — and come back to Iraq.
The magazine, “Israel-Kurd”, is the brainchild of Dawood Baghestani, the 62-year-old former chief of the autonomous northern region’s human rights commission.
The glossy, full-colour monthly in Kurdishand English has a lofty mission: to help solve the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflictby convincing more than 150,000 Kurdish Jews living in Israel to return to Iraqi Kurdistan, Baghestani told AFP.
“The biggest reason behind the complexity of the Palestinian problem is the unjust practices of Arab regimes against the Jews — there are more than 1.5 million Jews originally from Arab countries in Israel,” Baghestani said.
“If the Jews had not been subject to an exodus, the Palestinians wouldn’t have been either,” he said, referring to the flight of 700,000 Palestinians from the newly created Jewish state in 1948 during the first Arab-Israeli war.
“If the situation in our new federal and democratic Iraq, and particularly in Kurdistan, becomes stable, then many Jews would want to return and reduce the number of Jewish settlements in Palestine.”
The latest edition of the 52-page magazine, which has a circulation of around 1,500 copies, features a woman draped in an Israeli flag on the cover.
Inside are stories about Kurdish Jewish traditions and photographs from the first half of the twentieth century, as well as arguments on how a return of Jews would help to build a wealthy and strong Kurdistan.
But many people in Iraq are not buying the argument.
“I’m suspicious. I don’t see the point of this kind of publication,” said Zana Rustayi, a representative of the Islamist Jamaa Islamiya party in the regional assembly.
“The Kurds are part of the Muslim nation, and Kurdistan is part of Iraq.”
Iraq has no relations with Israel, and the country was an implacable foe of the Jewish state under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2003.
A Sunni member of parliament in Baghdad, Mithal Alusi, was suspended from parliament and threatened with charges last year after visiting Israel for a conference. The decision was later overturned by the constitutional court.
Dawood Baghestani, Iraqi Kurdish editor-in-chief of 'Israel-Kurd', reads a copy of the magazine in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The newly launched monthly magazine has caused a stir in northern Iraq after calling on Jewish Kurds to return to the region. Photo:Safin Hamed/AFP
Kurdistan does have a warmer history with the Jewish state, however. Many of the current crop of Kurdish leaders have visited Israel in past decades.
Jews lived in Kurdistan for centuries, working as traders, farmers and artisans.
But the creation of Israel and the rise of Arab nationalism in the mid-twentieth century dramatically altered the situation, spurring most of Kurdistan’s Jews to leave.
Baghestani — who has been to Israel four times, including on a clandestine trip in 1967 — denies that he works for the Israelis.
“What I am asking for is enshrined in the constitution: every Iraqi has the right to return to one’s homeland. Jews who were Iraqi citizens were subject to injustice,” he said.
“If every Arab country allowed the Jews to return, ensured their safety and gave them back their land,Palestinian refugees would be able to return to their territory because Israel would not need so much land.”
Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish Coalition MP in Baghdad, disputes this. He says that while relations with Israel may be a nice idea, such a move would not be pragmatic for a region ringed by other Muslim states.
“Kurdistan needs the Arabs. We are living in an Arab country and we are federal region within Iraq. We don’t need a relationship with (Israel), we need a relationship with Arabs, we need a relationship with Iran, we need to be close to Turkey,” Othman said.
“I haven’t heard of any Jews in Israel trying to return to Kurdistan. I think they’re better off there.”
Source: news.yahoo.com, Aug 12, 2009
Southern commander Zvika Zamir teaching a Kurdish fighter how to assemble a Galil rifle (1969)
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a one-day visit to Syria, which involved discussions on Turkey’s mediator role between Israel and Syria. Erdogan and the Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed bilateral relations, regional developments and Turkey’s peacemaking role in the region. Assad requested Turkey’s mediating services and Erdogan announced Ankara’s readiness to facilitate the Israeli-Syrian talks. They also agreed to initiate a “high-level strategic council” to bolster economic, political and cultural ties. Moreover, Erdogan addressed a large audience at the University of Aleppo, where he was warmly received. He praised the normalization of ties between Ankara and Damascus and argued that there is a need to address other problems in the region. He called for the re-launching of Israeli-Syrian talks on the basis of the restoration of Syria’s rights (www.cnnturk.com, July 22).Turkish diplomats facilitated indirect talks between Syrian and Israeli delegations, which appeared to be the most viable effort in recent years. Following Israel’s offensive against Gaza in late December, its relations with both Syria and Turkey became more strained. Syria suspended talks with Israel to protest against Israel’s military action. Ankara’s growing criticism toward Tel Aviv and the severing of their bilateral ties also led to questions over Turkey’s role, as Israel’s government had reportedly lost trust in Ankara and questioned its future as an impartial peace broker (EDM, January 30). As a result, these indirect talks moderated by Turkey came to a premature end.
Erdogan’s visit came against the background of renewed international efforts to refocus on the stalled peace process in the Middle East. The United States and European countries have intensified their work recently to bring Israel and Syria to the negotiating table, but substantial differences remain between both parties. Syria wants to start negotiations on the precondition that the Golan Heights will be returned. Assad earlier maintained that the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was willing to return the Golan Heights in full. “Only when he declared this to Erdogan did we start the indirect talks,” Assad added. However, he blamed the breakdown in the talks on Israel’s unwillingness to commit to an agreement on the definition of borders. He also expressed his willingness to see a more proactive U.S. involvement in the issue (www.ynetnews.com, March 25).
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell visited Israel and Syria in an effort to resume peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to start the talks without preconditions, meaning he would not “commit in advance to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.” Mitchell relayed this message to Assad, who rejected it and emphasized that the talks should start from the point at which they were suspended. Asad underlined that an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights would be the basis of any future talks. Whereas Assad conveyed to Mitchell his willingness to resume indirect talks under Turkish mediation, Netanyahu reportedly opposed this proposal by pointing to Ankara’s position during the Gaza crisis (Haaretz, June 21).
In contrast to Syria, Israel wants to avoid opening any talks based on the precondition of withdrawal. Moreover, the Israeli side constantly emphasizes that as long as Damascus does not end its support for Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel will have difficulties in commencing negotiations with Syria (Jerusalem Post, July 20).
Fred Hof, an adviser to Mitchell, also held talks in the region last week, but reportedly he could not convince the two parties to change their positions (Hurriyet Daily News, July 22). Since that trip came on the eve of Erdogan’s visit, the Turkish press speculated that Hof was gauging the parties’ interest in Turkish mediation (Sabah, July 20). Mitchell is also scheduled to visit the region later this week (www.state.gov, July 20).
It is difficult to establish whether Erdogan’s visit was indeed planned in accordance with American diplomatic contacts, but there is a growing convergence between Turkish and American initiatives. Since Mitchell’s visit to Turkey (EDM, March 2), the need for coordinated action between Ankara and Washington toward the Middle East has been emphasized by both sides. During his visit to Turkey, President Barack Obama also acknowledged Ankara’s role in the region and heralded a new era of cooperation between the two countries, which he called a “model partnership” (EDM, April 7).
However, such abstract titles require more concrete definition, and Ankara perceives its mediator role as a means to revitalize its relations with Washington and give substance to the new era of partnership. Through its new openings in the Middle East, Ankara has developed important diplomatic assets to address the challenging issues in the region. As one Turkish scholar, Bulent Aras, points out, through its constructive role in the Palestine and Syria issues, Turkey can not only facilitate a solution but also make the “model partnership” a reality (Sabah, May 27).
For Ankara, a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, among other factors, depends on the resolution of Israel’s twin problems with the Palestinians and Syria, and the integration of Damascus within the international community. In Ankara’s view, given Damascus’s deep rooted connections and leverage in the region, Syria holds a key role for developing stability in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. For instance, in Ankara’s view, without resolving Israeli-Syrian relations in a manner that is agreeable to all parties, and ending the diplomatic isolation of Damascus, it will not be easy to limit the perceived influence of Iran over Damascus.
How Israel will respond to Turkey’s renewed mediation offer remains to be seen, particularly considering that Erdogan appeared to support Damascus’s position on the restoration of Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Since his appointment as Obama’s special envoy to the region, Mitchell has held talks with Turkish officials and heard Ankara’s perspective and concerns on this issue. It will be interesting to observe if he will now exert pressure on Tel Aviv to give the Turkish mediation efforts another chance.
ONE MINUTE’E RAGMEN TURKIYE’NIN KAPISINDA
Thursday, 23 July 2009 08:30
ISRAIL’DEN TURKIYE’YE YENI RICA
El Vatan Gazetesi, Turk Diplomatlarina Dayanarak “Israil’in Turkiye’den Suriye ile Gorusmelerinde Araci Rolunu Yeniden Ustlenmesini Istedigini” Yazdi.
Israil’in Turkiye’den Suriye ile gorusmelerde araci rolunu yeniden ustlenmesini istedigi one suruldu.
Katar’da yayimlanan El Vatan gazetesi, Turk diplomatlarina dayanarak Israil’in, Turkiye’den Suriye ile gorusmelerinde yeniden araci olmasini istedigini” yazdi.
El Vatan, Turk diplomatik kaynaklarina dayandirdigi haberinde Basbakan Recep Tayyip Erdogan’in, Suriye-Israil gorusmelerinde yeniden aracilik yapmaya baslamasi yonunde aldigi taleplerin Kudus’ten kaynakladigini belirtti.
Israil basinina da yansitilan haberde Erdogan’in Suriye ziyareti sirasinda Devlet Baskani Besar Esad’a Turkiye’nin yeniden aracilik yapmasi icin talepler aldigini anlattigi belirtilirken, Erdogan’in Esad’a bu yondeki mesajlarin icerigi konusunda bilgi verdigi kaydedildi.
Bu arada ayni kaynaklarin, Erdogan’in Turkiye’nin, Gazze operasyonunun ardindan Israil ile iliskilerinde ortaya cikan krizi asmayi basardigini, Suriye ve Israil’in Ankara’nin araciligina guvenmeyi surdurdugunu soylediklerine de dikkat cekildi.
Turk diplomatik kaynaklarinin, barisin saglanmasinin Suriye, Israil, ABD’nin yanisina Turkiye icin bir ihtiyac haline geldigini ifade ettiklerine isaret edilen haberde Ankara’nin, dort turu yapilan, Israil ile Suriye arasinda dolayli gorusmelerde dogrudan muzakerelere gecilmesi icin gerekli temeller atildigi, bu nedenle Kudus ile Sam arasinda barisa daha kolayca varilabilecegine inandigi da ifade edildi.
Cabalarin yeniden baslanmak istemesinde diger bir faktorun de Suriye’de faaliyet gosteren buyuk Turk sirketlerinin kalici istikrara olan ihtiyaclarinin da oldugu one suruldu.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, seen here during a visit to the United Nations on June 19, has insisted that the Jewish state wants unconditional and direct talks with Syria, effectively rejecting calls for a relaunch of indirect negotiations.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday insisted Israel wants unconditional and direct talks with Syria, effectively rejecting calls for a relaunch of indirect negotiations.
“Israel wants direct negotiations as soon as possible and without mediation,” he said, in a statement from his ministry.
Israeli army radio said the minister rejected a Syrian proposal to restart indirect negotiations that were halted in December.
The proposal was presented to Israel by Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen during a Middle East trip.
Syria has expressed readiness to resume preliminary contacts through Turkish go-betweens and has been sending messages to Israel through intermediaries.
Turkey brokered four rounds of indirect contacts between Israel and Syria last year, with the aim of relaunching US-sponsored peace talks between the two foes that were broken off in 2000.
But the contacts were suspended in December when Israel launched its devastating 22-day military offensive against Gaza.
The Israeli government of hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since ruled out meeting Syria’s central demand — the return of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Armenia — The presidents of Armenia and Syria inspect a guard of honor outside the presidential palace in Yerevan on June 17, 2009.
17.06.2009
Ruben Meloyan
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad welcomed Armenia’s rapprochement with Turkey and offered to mediate more fence-mending negotiations between the two neighbors during an official visit to Yerevan on Wednesday.
“We in Syria have received with great satisfaction the steps that are aimed at normalization Turkish-Armenian relations,” al-Assad said after talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian. “I told the president of Armenia that we are ready to help move forward those relations.”
He argued that Syria is in a position to do that because of its “close relationships” with both Armenia and Turkey.
Armenia — Presidents Bashar al-Assad (L) of Syria and Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia hold a news conference in Yerevan, 17Jun2009
Sarkisian did not comment on al-Assad’s offer during their joint news conference. Instead, he praised the current state of Syrian-Armenian ties and stressed the need to boost bilateral economic cooperation. “Our friendship is a good example that must be showcased to both our peoples and others,” he said.
One of the two Syrian-Armenian agreements signed after the talks is meant to encourage and protect mutual investments. The two leaders will also open a Syrian-Armenian business forum on Thursday.
Al-Assad met with Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and visited Yerevan’s Matenadaran museum of ancient manuscripts later on Wednesday. He was not scheduled to visit to the Tsisternakabert genocide memorial to more than one million Armenians massacred in Ottoman Turkey. Foreign leaders visiting Armenia normally lay wreathes there.
Many of the Armenian survivors of the 1915-1918 genocide found refuge in what is now Syria, a fact emphasized by Sarkisian. “The ancestors of most of the Armenians scattered around the world found salvation from the genocide at Syria’s gates,” he said.
