BY SEMIH IDIZ
AKSAM- We can consider Jordan the closest Arab country to Turkey. Since it gained independence, we’ve enjoyed very friendly relations with this country. We’ve never encountered problems in our steadily developing relations. This week’s visit of Jordan’s King Abdullah to Turkey showed once again that Ankara and Amman are on the ‘same wavelength,’ in other words, we share similar views not only in bilateral relations, but also on regional and global issues. Back in 1999, the monarch first visited Ankara not too long after his father’s death. His visit this week coincided with a portentous period for the region and the world. In addition to the Palestinian-Israeli problem, recent developments in Iraq and the spread of the terrorist threat were on the table in Ankara. It was clear that Turkey and Jordan’s views on all these issues were in accord.
Speaking at a breakfast yesterday organized by the Turkish-Jordanian Business Council at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace, King Abdullah told the gathered businessmen of breakthroughs in Jordan’s economy and new opportunities in his country and the region for the Turkish private sector. Actually, besides a bilateral trade volume totaling $150 million, we have a very conductive atmosphere for common initiatives and similar projects. In this respect, the meetings with the king and his accompanying ministers opened new horizons. King Abdullah gave frank answers to my question about terrorism. Firstly, he said that the roots of terrorist movements had to be addressed and eliminated to combat this threat effectively. He cited the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as the chief root, warning, ‘Unless this problem is solved, we’ll all continue to feel the effects of terrorism.’ The king added that the terrorism problem not only plagued relations between the West and the Islamic world, but also within the Islamic world. In his view, moderate Islam is at odds with terror’s perpetrators, and education is the way to solve this problem, which is a long-term process. He added, ‘We, the moderates, should say that this is not the way of the Koran. Period. These people don’t represent Islam.’ Ankara shares this view as well as those on other issues discussed in his meetings, including views on the situation in Iraq, the Kurdish issue and the Greater Middle East Initiative (GME). Jordan is also concerned about developments in Iraq. Concerning the GME, King Abdullah shares Ankara’s view that countries in the region should themselves seize the initiative towards democracy and reform. Turkey and Jordan are the two countries which can best stand at the forefront of this.