BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI
STAR- First, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to Lebanon, then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Jordan. And Erdogan’s month-end official visit to Iran. Gul will also head the meeting of the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC) in New York this September. Turkey is in a hurry for its EU membership bid, but also seems to turning its attention to the Middle East.
Ankara is determined to play a more active role in finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. What exactly this ‘active’ role will be is not yet set. Ankara has only a rough draft in mind. The details will be formed by the visits of the prime minister and foreign minister. A kind of mediation is taking place in the draft. This issue was also discussed during US President George W. Bush’s visit to Ankara last week and Washington gave its full support to Ankara. The first step is that Turkey will take part in an international force to be deployed in the Gaza Strip. The government is also considering trying ‘shuttle diplomacy.’ This will of course require an infrastructure.
The election of Turkey’s candidate Ekmelettin Ihsanoglu to head the OIC consolidated a strong infrastructure. The Foreign Ministry has already begun preparations for an infrastructure. It is planning to increase its personnel in its Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The ministry will also reinforce its personnel at the OIC office. Thus, Ihsanoglu will be able to put together his own team.
The Foreign Ministry is also restructuring its Middle East department. The department was only responsible for political relations with the Mideast countries. Cultural and economic ties were handled by other departments, which gave rise to mixed signals. Now every aspect of relations with the Middle East will be handled through a single department. All this mobility means that Turkey will be more involved in the Middle East than it has been. Shortly Turkey will turn towards the Middle East, a region it has neglected for a long time.