BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make the opening speech today at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy. This should be considered a mark of Turkey 's rising international importance. The conference is well-known for its speeches and how they set the stage for international security. Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech last year, which got the Turkish General Staff's attention, made a big splash, as it was seen as Russia 's return to global politics. The General Staff showed so much interest that it took the unprecedented step of posting the speech on its website. So Erdogan's speech on ` Turkey 's Foreign Policy and Security Policies' is very important. Beyond political chatter, people on the international level have started to be very interested in what Turkey has to say about security issues. At the same conference, special importance will also be paid to Afghanistan 's future.
As Erdogan is about to give his speech, Turkey is on the threshold of a breakthrough. For example, following years of strenuous efforts, Turkish diplomats and the military have finally been able to make the US understand - and the European Union, to some extent - that the terrorist PKK is a threat and element sowing instability not only for itself, but also for the future of Iraq and the region. Erdogan will speak on foreign policy and security only a few days after Turkish planes carried out operations deep in Iraqi airspace. Responding to requests from the US and NATO that Turkey send combat troops to Afghanistan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said that it wouldn't do this as long as its own fight against terrorism is still ongoing. We learned from Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun's recent US visit that certain vehicles, equipment and personnel moved by the US from Afghanistan were used in anti-PKK operations in Iraq . As the Turkish government and people are starting to get some satisfaction with successes in the fight against the PKK, Ankara has changed its stance on Afghanistan , which should come as no surprise. All these developments should be seen as part of Ankara 's security policy focused on energy routes. Similarly, we see that the General Staff will pay special importance to energy and transportation issues during an international symposium on terrorism in Ankara next month.
As for the political dimension of the issue, the tragic death of nine Turks in a fire which started in a Turkish family's apartment in Germany last Sunday, ahead of Erdogan's visit, must have a symbolic meaning. There are still suspicions the fire was the result of terrorist arson, due to racist-based xenophobia in Europe . Its symbolic meaning comes from how Turkey 's EU bid is facing exclusionary obstacles erected by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some people say recent developments in Turkey provide extra ammunition to arguments that there's no place for Turkey in Europe . At this point, I won't consider the issue with such shallowness to ask how Europeans would consider us if everybody wears a headscarf. But if Turkey lets our state absorb a Middle Eastern way of life, our gains of recent years would be quickly lost. Turkey has a special character that distinguishes it from other countries in the Islamic world and earns it full and unconditional support from the West. This also comes from its pluralist and parliamentary structure, and its legal structure and free economy, which are approaching the Western level. But some of these characteristics also exist in some Islam countries. The only feature that truly distinguishes Turkey and makes it very different is its secularism. This secular, democratic legal order provides Erdogan with the opportunity to explain Turkey to global decision-makers in Munich . He should know the value of this and not misuse it.