Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, in the Aegean city of Izmir on November 12. The visit cemented the personal relations between the two leaders and provided a platform for discussing projects to expand bilateral political, economic, and cultural cooperation.
Following the model of high-level meetings Italy holds with major European countries, Erdogan and Berlusconi also co-chaired an intergovernmental summit bringing together ministers from the two sides. The gathering brought together ministers of foreign affairs, defense, transport, economy, energy, and the interior from both sides, who discussed, in addition to bilateral relations, joint strategic projects in the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East.
A statement from the Italian Embassy in Ankara emphasized that by initiating this process with Turkey, Italy made it clear that it considered relations with Turkey as “strategic” (Anatolian Agency, November 11). Similarly, a press brief from the office of the Turkish prime minister emphasized the strategic aspect of the relationship and added that such meetings would be held annually (www.cnnturk.com, November 11).
The current state of Turkish-European relations was the major item on the agenda. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has not achieved any major progress toward EU membership since beginning the process in 2005. What led to the current stalemate in the accession process has been a matter of contention. The AKP government has come under criticism from pro-reform circles as well as EU institutions for slowing down the membership process, while Erdogan has repeatedly put the blame on the EU’s attitude toward Turkey (EDM, November 6).
Maintaining Italy’s traditional pro-Turkey position, Berlusconi repeated his unconditional support for Erdogan and Turkey during the summit, saying that they had overcome many difficulties “shoulder to shoulder” (www.haberturk.com, November 13). Berlusconi noted that although some EU countries continued to oppose Turkey’s membership, he would continue to emphasize Turkey’s strategic importance and convince the EU that it needed to admit Turkey as a member. Berlusconi criticized the slow pace of Turkey-EU accession negotiations. He called on the upcoming Czech and Swedish presidencies of the EU to accelerate the process and open four negotiating chapters in one year. These remarks definitely pleased Erdogan (Anadolu Ajansi, November 12).
In an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Erdogan noted that “Italy is Turkey’s greatest advocate in the EU.” Berlusconi further dismissed the claim that secularism was under threat in Turkey, and he argued that Erdogan had been a great reformer. (Hurriyet, November 12). These emotional remarks were no surprise, given the close friendship that has been cultivated between Erdogan and Berlusconi over the last six years.
It remains to be seen, however, to what extent Italy can use “Turkey’s strategic importance” to exert leverage on its European partners and deliver on those promises. For Berlusconi, Turkey’s progress on political reforms was satisfactory (Hurriyet, November 12). Only the previous week, however, the European Commission’s progress report criticized Turkey in many areas (EDM, November 6). Chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Joost Lagendijk said that Turkey’s strategic importance was no guarantee for membership and placing too much emphasis on this thesis undermined domestic reform processes (Anatolian Agency, November 6).
Nor is it clear whether Berlusconi commands support at home for his Turkish policy. When the news about Berlusconi’s warm remarks on Turkey arrived at a session of the Italian Parliament, representatives from his coalition partner, Lega Nord, were reportedly outraged. They repeated their party’s opposition to Turkey’s membership on geographical, cultural, and religious grounds, and underlined that admitting Turkey would be a grave strategic mistake and undermine European unity (www.tgrthaber.com, Dogan Haber Ajansi, November 13).
Italy, nonetheless, prefers to approach Turkey from a strategic perspective. In that context, Berlusconi constantly refers to the strategic role Turkey plays as a bridge between European markets and hydrocarbon reserves, a factor that led Italy to invest in pipelines passing through Turkey (Hurriyet, November 13).
Berlusconi also detailed Italy’s position on expanding membership of the G-8 forum of industrialized countries. He emphasized the need to bring in more countries to make it an inclusive organization, moving first to G-14 and then to G-20. Given Turkey’s constructive role in international diplomacy, Berlusconi vowed to seek ways to include Turkey in the activities of the G-8, when Italy assumes the presidency of the organization next year (www.cnnturk.com, November 12). Both leaders are scheduled to attend the G-20 Summit in Washington, D.C., on November 15 (Today’s Zaman, November 14).
During the press briefing following their summit, Erdogan and Berlusconi stressed determination to work together for a more peaceful world. Erdogan highlighted the destruction that miscalculated American policies had brought onto the region, particularly to the Iraqi people. He remarked, “If we really want global peace, all world leaders have to work in solidarity…and the G-20 has an important role to play.” In response to a question about whether the two countries would provide additional troops to expand the international mission in Afghanistan, they both declined to rule out the possibility and said that the new U.S. administration would have to clarify its position first and they will be ready to discuss the issue in NATO (ANKA, November 12).
The joint declaration released after the summit reiterated Italy’s support for Turkey’s EU process and emphasized two countries’ willingness to expand cooperation in other areas. The declaration also noted that the foreign ministers had signed an agreement for the establishment of an Italian university in Istanbul (www.bbm.gov.tr, November 12).
