Tag: Davutoglu

Israel Turkey Relations Worsen After UN Report

Israel Turkey Relations Worsen After UN Report

Dorian Jones | Istanbul

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks to the media in Ankara, Turkey, September 2, 2011.

Photo: AP

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks to the media in Ankara, Turkey, September 2, 2011.

Turkey’s foreign minister says his government plans to apply to the International Court of Justice this week for an investigation into Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The move is expected to further deepen the diplomatic crisis between the two countries and comes despite calls from the U.N. secretary general to end the crisis.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s comments were made after Turkey suspended military agreements with Israel and moved to downgrade diplomatic relations on Friday.

The Turkish moves follow the release of a U.N. report into last year’s killing of nine Turks during an Israeli operation to stop a flotilla ships trying to break its blockade. The report concluded that Israel used excessive force against the flotilla, though its blockade of Gaza was legal.

Tensions have steadily increased over Jerusalem’s refusal to meet Ankara’s demands for an apology and compensation to the families of the dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that while his government regrets the deaths caused by the flotilla raid, the naval commandos defended their lives against violent activists. Netanyahu also said he hoped to mend ties with Turkey.

But Turkish Political columnist Asli Aydintasbas says that is unlikely unless Jerusalem meets Ankara’s demands.

“Knowing the prime minister’s personality and knowing the importance of this issue for Turkey, I do not see how Turkey can accept anything short of an apology,” said Aydintasbas.

The deepening diplomatic crisis follows calls for restraint by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

“Both sides are very important countries in the region,” he said. “Their improving relationship, normal relationship will be very important in addressing all the situations Middle East.”

Observers warn the deepening Israeli-Turkish crisis could threaten to further destabilize an increasingly volatile Middle East.

Political scientist Soli Ozel explains.

“There lies a powerful struggle between Turkey and Israel over who is going to be the top honcho [leader] in the eastern Mediterranean,” said Ozel.

Tensions could rise even further with reports Erdogan is planning to visit Gaza in mid September. Turkey’s Islamic-rooted ruling AK Party has strong ties with the Hamas leadership of Gaza.

Israel says it needs to maintain a naval blockade on Gaza to prevent arms smuggling to the ruling Hamas Islamic movement, classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States. Palestinians say the blockade causes undue suffering on the entire population of Gaza and violates international law

via Israel Turkey Relations Worsen After UN Report | Europe | English.

September 5, 2011
Turkey’s friendship with Syria nears breaking point

By Simon Cameron-Moore

ISTANBUL | Mon Aug 8, 2011 11:31am EDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s friendship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stood near breaking point as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu prepared to visit Damascus on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to persuade Assad to stop his security forces attacking civilians.

On Sunday, one of Assad’s advisers warned Davutoglu would be given short shrift after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his minister would deliver a “decisive message,” having seen past entreaties to halt the violence ignored.

A Turkish official said Davutoglu would repeat the earlier calls. But the official did not want to venture into what Turkey will do if its words continue to fall on deaf ears in neighboring Syria.

Still, if Davutoglu returns empty-handed, Erdogan faces the prospect of ditching a friendship he has carefully nurtured over the past decade, leaving Assad more isolated and dependent on Iranian support than ever.

Bahadir Dincer, Middle East expert at the International Strategic Research Organization in Ankara, said he expected no change from the Syrian government given the comments from Damascus ahead of Davutoglu’s visit.

“Turkey will have to seriously consider its ties with Syria,” Dincer said. “It has been a white page for a decade now, The recent tension turned it grey, and we’ll see tomorrow if the relations are entering a red-page era.”

Having almost gone to war in the late 1990s over Syria harboring Kurdish militants, the friendship became a virtual poster-child for Erdogan’s foreign policy of “zero problems with neighbors.”

Erdogan has holidayed with Assad, their cabinets have held joint meetings, Turkey has become Syria’s biggest trading partner, the neighbors have visa-free travel between them, and Turkey tried to broker a peace deal between Syria and Israel.

NO GOING OUT ON A LIMB

The relationship with Syria has withered as Erdogan tried to encourage Assad, in vain, to make democratic reforms and end the repressive one-party rule of his Baath movement.

Events in the Arab Spring of popular protests, according to Sinan Ulgen in a paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, have shown Ankara now wants to be on the right side of history and is ready to stand up for issues like human rights even where it imperils ties with incumbent leaders.

The patience Erdogan has shown so far with Assad stands in contrast to the speed with which he advised Hosni Mubarak to quit as president of Egypt when street protests erupted there early this year, but that patience appears to have run out.

There is genuine outrage in Turkey, a largely secular Muslim country like Syria but also a multi-party democracy, over the brutal repression unleashed since pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the neighboring Arab state last March.

In June, after more than 10,000 Syrians fled to Turkey to escape attacks by security forces, Erdogan described the killing of Syrian civilians as acts of savagery.

Yet, his government — like Syria’s Arab neighbors, however upset they have become about Assad’s behavior, underlined by the recall of several Gulf ambassadors on Monday — is unlikely to take any unilateral action against Damascus, according to analysts of Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East.

With the international community divided over what to do about Syria, Turkey is unlikely to go out on a limb, either through economic sanctions or military action.

“Turkey will not go to the lengths of unilateral economic sanctions. It has always argued that sanctions hurt people, not regimes,” said Semih Idiz, a columnist focused on foreign policy at Milliyet newspaper.

One big investment that could be vulnerable to a freeze in bilateral relations is a joint multi-billion-dollar dam project dubbed “Friendship Dam,” whose groundbreaking was attended by leaders of the two countries in February.

Turkey is also likely to resist any pressure to create a buffer zone inside Syrian territory, though it is reportedly a scenario that the Turkish military has made contingencies for.

“Turkey will not do anything unilateral militarily unless there is a massive spillover effect from what’s happening in Syria — a spillover of a humanitarian nature, or a threat to national security,” Idiz said.

Other analysts said Turkey should avoid being drawn into any military intervention in Syria just to please Western powers, as it would backfire on efforts to end ethnic Kurds’ long-running insurgency in southeast Turkey.

“Turkey may limit its trade and diplomatic ties with Syria. But, even if Turkey doesn’t take such steps, its clear message and attitude toward the Syrian administration will be a boost of morale to protesters,” Dincer said.

Syrians living in exile have flocked to Turkey, without any apparent encouragement from the Turkish government, for a series of meetings aimed at uniting opposition to Assad.

Any move by Turkish officials to engage the Syrian opposition would further alienate Damascus from Ankara.

And whereas Saudi Arabia withdrew its envoy to Damascus on Monday, Idiz doubted whether Turkey would want to be seen following Riyadh’s lead, lest its actions be seen through any sectarian prism.

Assad and the ruling clique in the Ba’athist Party hail from Syria’s minority Alawite community, a sect close to Iran’s dominant Shi’ites, while the majority of Syrians are Sunni.

Mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia sent troops to Bahrain in March to help stifle unrest among the emirate’s Shi’ite majority.

While most of Turkey’s population are also Sunni, it also has a small Alawite minority, and Erdogan’s government has steadfastly sought to avoid stirring sectarian issues.

Last Friday, Davutoglu said it was too soon to talk about asking the Syrian ambassador to Ankara to leave.

via Turkey’s friendship with Syria nears breaking point | Reuters.

August 9, 2011
Turkey sends Syria a message that Britain cannot

Syrian visit by the Turkish foreign minister has the appearance of a showdown – but President Bashar al-Assad might listen

o Simon Tisdall

o guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 August 2011 16.10 BST

Syrian refugees at the Boynuyogun Turkish Red Crescent refugee camp near the Syrian border. Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images

The foreign secretary, William Hague, admitted last week there was not much more Britain could do to halt the Syrian crackdown, while his US counterpart, Hillary Clinton, has been reduced to counting the dead.

But Turkey, Syria’s more powerful neighbour, is less supine. It is sending its foreign minister to Damascus on Tuesday to read the riot act to Syria’s gore-soaked president, Bashar al-Assad.

Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit comes against a backdrop of daily atrocities by a regime struggling to contain the uprising. At least 42 civilians died on Sunday in army attacks on the eastern town of Deir Ezzor, activists said. Ten deaths were also reported in Houleh in central Syria. Belated promises from the regime of free, multiparty elections appear to have done nothing to defuse the crisis, which has claimed 1,600 lives since March.

Turkish alarm, bordering on anger, is humanitarian and strategic in nature. A summer cross-border surge of Syrian refugees has caused big headaches for Ankara. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, pictured right, is said to be furious that his personal pleas to Assad to stop butchering his people and adopt substantive reforms have been ignored. Erdogan has publicly condemned the regime’s “savagery”.

But Turkey is also worried by the impact of the unrest on its efforts to suppress Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) fighters active in the south-east of the country, many of whom are Syrian-born or based in Syria. A report by the National Intelligence Organisation (NIT), obtained by Today’s Zaman newspaper, says about 1,500 PKK fighters in the Kandil mountains region, straddling Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, are of Syrian origin.

The report’s complaint that Syria is not co-operating adequately with Turkish anti-terrorism efforts recalls the 1990s, when Syria provided safe haven for the PKK, hosted its now jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and the two countries almost went to war amid other disputes about water resources and territory. Relations have since improved but those gains are rapidly dissipating.

Iran’s refusal to share intelligence about its own anti-Kurd operations and its tightening links with the Syrian regime are another cause of Turkish concern. Davutoglu confirmed on Friday that an Iranian arms shipment to Syria had been intercepted, supposedly destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon. A Syria-bound planeload of Iranian automatic rifles, rocket launchers and mortars was seized in March.

As Assad has grown more isolated, his alliance with Tehran has gained greater importance – and become more worrying for Turkey, whose attempts to act as a go-between with Iran and western countries, for example on the nuclear issue, have irritated both sides and achieved no appreciable progress.

Against this backdrop, Davutoglu’s Damascus visit has taken on the appearance of a showdown. “We have been very patient until now, waiting to see … whether they will listen to what we have been saying … But our patience is running out now,” Erdogan said at the weekend.

What happens in Syria was an “internal affair” for Turkey, he said, given shared historical and cultural ties, and an 850km (530-mile) common border. “We cannot remain a bystander.”

Speculation is rife that if rebuffed again, Turkey may consider punitive steps ranging from diplomatic and economic measures targeting the regime to the setting up of some kind of safe haven inside northern Syria policed by the Turkish military. If such a risky intervention were undertaken, Turkey would be within its rights, following the Libyan model, to call on fellow Nato members, including Britain, for support.

Turkey’s determination to beard Assad in his lair comes amid growing Arab criticism of Syria, reflected in the Gulf Co-operation Council’s weekend call for an end to the use of “excessive force” and the pursuit of “serious reform”. Last week, Russia, a traditionally protective ally, backed a condemnatory UN security council statement. President Dmitry Medvedev warned Assad he would meet a “sad fate” if he did not change course.

All of which suggests Hague’s appeal to regional and non-western governments to do more to pressure Assad has been heard. It highlights a probable, recurring 21st-century theme. Where Britain and the US increasingly cannot or will not act, others take the lead – and may do better.

via Turkey sends Syria a message that Britain cannot | Simon Tisdall | Comment is free | The Guardian.

August 8, 2011
Turkey Recalibres Its Policy On Libya

Turkey Recalibres Its Policy On Libya

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 139

July 20, 2011

By: Saban Kardas

Turkey has hosted an important meeting, which marked the drastic transformation its policy on Libya has undergone. Although Turkey initially expressed strong opposition to military intervention against the Gaddafi regime, over time it adjusted its policy and managed to coordinate it with Western powers and various Muslim nations that have been working to end Gaddafi’s rule. The Libya Contact Group, bringing together these powers, held its fourth meeting in Istanbul, co-chaired by Turkey and the UAE, on July 15.

Predating the meeting, Turkey had undertaken several steps to forge closer ties with the Libyan rebels. Despite its opposition to the use of force, Ankara later agreed to the transfer of the operation to NATO command and joined the Libya Contact Group. However, Turkey’s insistence on a negotiated settlement, and its slow pace in cutting its ties with Tripoli arguably drew a wedge between Ankara and Tripoli-based National Transitional Council (NTC) (EDM, April 19).

While distancing itself from Gaddafi, Turkey progressively repaired its ties with the NTC. After joining the Contact Group, Turkey intensified its criticism against the Gaddafi administration. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued that a new period was to start in the history of Libya and called on Gaddafi to relinquish power. More importantly, following the temporary closure of the Turkish embassy in Tripoli the day before, Erdogan emphasized that Turkey would continue to work with the NTC to find a political solution (www.mfa.gov.tr, May 3).

During the second meeting of the Contact Group in Rome in the same week, Turkey argued for an immediate ceasefire and insisted on a roadmap it proposed earlier in April to end the conflict (Hurriyet, May 5). However, the inability of the Contact Group to agree on determined action and the deepening of the civil war rendered Turkey’s proposal largely ineffective.

Turkey then moved toward consolidating ties with the opposition, which came in mid-May when the chairman of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, visited Turkey and met the president, prime minister and foreign minister. Although Turkish leaders described the NTC as a legal and credible representative of the people of Libya, they stopped short of extending official recognition. Satisfied with Turkey’s de facto recognition of their administration, Abdul-Jalil emphasized that they would discuss ways to improve trade with Turkey and how Ankara could assist the country’s reconstruction and provision of humanitarian aid. He also sought to make the case that the rebel forces held sympathy toward Turkey’s position and earlier protests against Turkey in Benghazi were due to a misunderstanding. More importantly, he said the NTC would honor all the agreements signed in the past by the Tripoli government, meaning that Turkish business investments in the country would be protected. Granted, reflecting perhaps a divergence with Turkey, Abdul-Jalil underlined the necessity of the military option to topple Gaddafi, though he avoided any request for Turkish military assistance (Anadolu Ajansi May 23; Zaman, May 25).

The real boost for Ankara’s ties with the NTC came when Davutoglu visited Benghazi. Arguing that Turkey and Libya shared the same destiny, he extended support to the Benghazi administration by describing it as the legitimate representative of the country, and adding that Turkey would soon appoint an ambassador to Benghazi. At the same time, Davutoglu made a commitment to provide $100 million in project credit and $100 million in cash credit, in addition to the $100 million Turkey previously provided. Davutoglu reiterated Turkey’s call for a roadmap, based on an immediate ceasefire, delivery of humanitarian assistance, an end to Gaddafi’s rule, and maintenance of Libya’s unity, and argued that a ceasefire should be established before the beginning of Muslim holy month of Ramadan (Anadolu Ajansi, July 3).

The Turkish government also took a major step, by issuing a decree to freeze the assets of Gaddafi and his family in Turkey, imposing a ban on their entry into Turkey, and opening the way for seizing the control of Arab-Turkish Bank which was partly owned by Libyan Foreign Bank. The decree also spelled out other measures to implement the arms embargo in line with the UN Security Council Resolution (Radikal, July 3). Mahmoud Jibril, the NTC’s spokesman on foreign affairs, paid a visit to Turkey to finalize the loan deal, where he also requested that Ankara grant access to the frozen assets. The Turkish side, however, declined to unfreeze the assets, citing the existing UN resolutions (Hurriyet Daily News, July 6).

Ahead of the Contact Group meeting in Istanbul, Davutoglu reiterated the need to reach a truce before Ramadan, while arguing that the Turkish proposal would constitute the basis for discussions. Although Ankara also extended an invitation to China and Russia, they declined to attend, arguing that the issue should be handled in the UN Security Council (Sabah, July 14). In his address at the opening of the meeting, Davutoglu expressed support for NTC’s request for the release of $3 billion from the frozen assets and its equal distribution in Tripoli and Benghazi (www.mfa.gov.tr, July 15).

While recognizing the NTC as the legitimate governing authority in Libya until an interim authority is set in place, the contact group took various decisions to aid the political transition, and assist the NTC in political, economic, financial and administrative fields. For instance, the final declaration urged participants to “open credit lines to the NTC corresponding to 10 percent to 20 percent of the frozen assets by accepting them as collateral” (www.mfa.gov.tr, July 15).

Although the conclusions outlined a roadmap for the political transition after the end of Gaddafi’s rule and decided to heighten pressure on Tripoli, the meeting failed to present clear answers as to how the current military stalemate will be overcome. Likewise, despite the incorporation of some of the elements from Turkey’s own roadmap, there was no decision to halt military operations in Ramadan. Granted, the process leading from the outbreak of the crisis in Libya to the holding of the Contact Group meeting in Istanbul reflects the high degree of flexibility on the part of Turkey. More importantly, it demonstrates Ankara’s determination to work closely with the United States, as was reflected by the warm welcome US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received from Turkish leaders during her stay in Turkey.

https://jamestown.org/program/turkey-recalibres-its-policy-on-libya/

July 20, 2011
Turkey backs unfreezing $3 billlion over Ramadan

Turkey said on today that it supported a proposal to release $3 billion of frozen Libyan assets to help civilians on both sides of the war prepare for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Greek Foreign minister Stavros Lambrinidis (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chat before the fourth meeting of the International Contact Group for Libya, in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 July 2011.

Speaking at the opening of the international contact group on Libya meeting in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the humanitarian situation was a cause of “grave concern”.

The request for access to the frozen funds had come from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged to special financial mechanism, but tens of millions in frozen Gadhafi regime assets in the United States and elsewhere are still inaccessible to rebels because of the lack of recognition and U.N. sanctions.

The U.S. and a growing number of countries consider the council the legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people but do not formally recognize it as Libya’s government. The council has been seeking formal recognition from the United States and others for months.

Davutoglu said it was the legitimate representative of Libya.

“We see merit in the suggestion of the NTC for the release of $3 billion from the frozen assets of Libya under U.N. supervision,” Davutoglu said in an address to delegations from 27 countries and representatives of international and regional organisations.

He said the money should be equally distributed “during Ramadan season to Tripoli and Benghazi on the condition that it will only be used for providing humanitarian assistance”.

Ramadan begins at the start of August this year.

In the run-up to the Istanbul gathering, Davutoglu expressed hopes that the framework for a political solution to end the conflict could emerge by Ramadan.

Co-chairing the meeting along with the United Arab Emirates, the Turkish foreign minister called for the contact group to focus on these efforts, while keeping up pressure on Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Tripoli and looking for fresh ways to support the NTC.

Davutoglu called the NTC the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and said it should lead efforts toward stabilising and reconstructing the country, and plan for the post-conflict recovery.

Given the legal difficulties releasing money frozen by the United Nations,

Greek Foreign minister Stavros Lambrinidis (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chat before the fourth meeting of the International Contact Group for Libya, in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 July 2011.

suggested the assets could be used as collateral by governments providing financial aid to the NTC administration in Benghazi.

“Above all, the alleviation of the NTC’s urgent need for cash is of primary importance as we approach the holy month of Ramadan,” Davutoglu said.

“In this respect I would like to encourage all our partners in the contact group to consider opening credit lines to the NTC amounting to a certain percentage of the Libyan frozen assets in their country,” he said

via Turkey backs unfreezing $3 billlion over Ramadan | Libya TV.

July 16, 2011
Iran’s potential should be used to settle Mideast problems

Iran’s potential should be used to settle Mideast problems: Turkey

Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN — Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Iran’s significant potential should be utilized to help resolve problems facing the Middle East.

Davutoglu made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran late on Monday.

“Today, the significant potential of the Islamic Republic of Iran should be used to help resolve the problems facing the Middle East region,” Davutoglu stated.

He also described Iran as an “influential” country on the regional stage.

Davutoglu added, “Today, the Islamic world is undergoing a special crisis, and Iran and Turkey shoulder a heavy responsibility at this juncture.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Turkish foreign minister described relations between Iran and Turkey as good, adding, “Tehran-Ankara cooperation would help settle problems in the region and would bring sustainable security to the region.”

Ahmadinejad stated, “Enemies are concerned and unhappy about close relations between Iran and Turkey because they think that would harm their interests and serve the interests of regional nations.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadinejad advised regional countries to remain vigilant in the face of outsiders’ plots, particularly those hatched by the United States, adding foreign intervention will take its toll on regional countries.

“Regional states should be watchful and not help implement the intrigues devised by the United States, which are meant to improve its economic situation and save the Zionist regime,” he said.

He added, “Efforts should be made to restrain this fake regime, and any action taken in line with (attempts to serve) the interests of this regime would be suicidal.”

Davutoglu also held talks with Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani late on Monday

via tehran times : Iran’s potential should be used to settle Mideast problems: Turkey.

July 13, 2011