BY IBRAHIM KALIN
TODAY'S ZAMAN- A recent trip to Athens, Berlin and several cities in Pakistan including Islamabad, Karachi and the flood-stricken Multan has once more revealed Turkey's new challenges and opportunities. Each city I visited represents a different typology in the current geopolitical balance of the world. Each has its own problems. And each has a unique relationship to Turkey.
Germany is the most powerful economy in Europe, an economy that is tied to Turkey. It is Turkey's second largest trade partner after Russia. More than 2.5 million Turkish Muslims live in Germany, their history extending to more than half a century. When the Turkish and German teams met in Berlin to play for the Euro 2012 championship, all of that history was present in the stadium, with more than 40,000 Turks, of course. Turkey lost the game with one goal coming from Mesut Özil, the German national football player of Turkish origin. The Turkish fans did not like it a bit, but this is what you call integration in the high-speed, multiculturalist, multicentered world of ours.
Moving to Athens, one sees signs of the worst economic crisis Greece has had in a long time. My Greek hosts think Greece will come out of this, but it will take at least several years. But their concern is that with the current political and economic system in Greece, such crises are likely to stick to the Greeks for a long time. Many have asked me how Turkey has made it without the International Monetary Fund (IMF). My answer was simple: the political system, a robust financial system and fiscal discipline.
But economy is not the only thing the Greeks are interested in Turkey for. Turkish movie series are rating monsters, I was told more and more Greeks, traditionally resentful of Turkey, follow Turkish news, movies, arts and sports. Close to half a million Greek tourists visited Turkey last year. The Turkish-Greek trade volume was about $3.8 billion in 2008. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is extremely well known and, strangely enough, popular among the Greeks for his performance as prime minister. But equally important is how much the Greeks know the ins and outs of Turkish politics. Many know what the Sept. 12 referendum means for reforming the judicial system and redefining civilian-military relations in Turkey. Given the fact that the Greeks themselves have suffered from the excesses of the military, this is perfectly understandable. What is surprising is the level of mental engagement the Greeks have regarding Turkey.
The Aegean territorial waters issue is still the biggest problem between Turkey and Greece. The rights of the Turkish-Muslim minority in Greece and the Christian/Orthodox minority in Turkey remain divisive. And then there is the Cyprus issue to which at least some Greeks no longer want to be a part. Compared to a decade ago, nobody in Turkey or Greece thinks that these problems are unsolvable. To the contrary, both countries under Prime Minister Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou have shown great leadership in addressing these issues and now seek to develop a common regional perspective from the Aegean to the Balkans and the Middle East. Turkey's position is clear: We want to improve our relations with all of our neighbors, and we don't want any of our neighbors to be weak and unstable. I think more and more Greeks are hearing this message now.
Finally Pakistan. Given the heavy involvement of the US and other Western powers in the region, Pakistan is probably the most strategic country in Asia at the moment. Many in Washington think the success of the US-led war in Afghanistan depends on Pakistan's ability (or will) to address its chronic problems in the tribal areas of the country going all the way to the Afghan border. Be that as it may, the floods that hit the country back in July put Pakistan again at the forefront of international headlines. Turkey immediately moved in and collected close to $250 million in aid to Pakistan. Prime Minister Erdogan personally went to deliver the aid.
Berlin, Athens, Islamabad. Three different cities, three different geopolitical locations and three very different sets of issues. Germany is still the strongest economy in Europe and remains one of the top heavyweights in European politics. Greece feels like an abandoned child in an affluent neighborhood. The Greeks have more to say about their relations with Turkey than about what is going on in Brussels. And Pakistan always looks to Turkey as a friend and as a model. All three live in very different worlds. But all three share a special relationship with Turkey.
Now if I had visited three different cities, say, Sarajevo, Baghdad and Cape Town, I would probably have had to write a different piece. But given the fact that Turkey is moving away from the periphery of the international system more and more to the central lands, my piece would have probably reflected similar realities. Securing a place on the new geopolitical map of the world is not easy. But Turkey has no other choice.