BY HADI ULUENGIN
Columnist Hadi Uluengin comments on necessary changes in Turkey’s foreign policy. A summary of his column is as follows:
I have been writing for years that Turkey should give up the US-Israeli axis and follow the European Union route. Because for almost two centuries, foreign dynamics have been determining the course of events in Turkey and the main engine of freedom and democracy, which constitutes our target, is directing towards Europe, which has a more ethical stance than the New World. The reason for this is that although Washington mentions the word ‘democracy,’ it complies with authoritarian regimes, including military intervention. Thus, the US can do us no good in terms of influencing the domestic structure. In addition, Turkey is the extension of the Old Continent historically, geographically and economically. In other words, Atlantic’s western shore isn’t our ‘actual West.’ It’s too normal that Ankara’s foreign policy is routed towards Europe.
I have been defending these ideas for many years but I also suggested that we should address ourselves to this task rapidly because I know that foreign policies are changing gradually. In other words, I wanted that the ‘infrastructure’ which became concrete with our harmonization packages would be completed as soon as possible because the foreign policy, which is the ‘superstructure,’ can be built on its base. For Europe, the latter cannot be fulfilled unless the former is achieved. However, we distracted ourselves in this process because of the tripping of ‘status quo forces.’ They have been playing the US card from the very beginning. However, firstly the war in Iraq and then the detention of 11 Turkish soldiers by US forces last Friday caused the status quo to lose its confidence. It’s early to estimate now but the same ‘status quo forces’ might treat the US in a cool manner from now on. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it will accept the EU route. This is the situation and the status quo will make a decision now.
However, whatever the result will be, the current ‘conjuncture’ in Turkey and the world seem to be too negative for following a foreign policy with the EU axis because the US divided the EU so much in the utter confusion of the war in Iraq. Today as a ‘focal point,’ the EU is less powerful than its situation six months ago. Thus, unfortunately it’s now harder for Brussels to establish an alternative against Washington in Ankara’s foreign policy but it’s still possible for us to return to the axis of the Old Continent by thinking in a strategic way.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION