HURRIYET DAILY NEWS - Turkey has come to the forefront due to its policies on improving relations with Middle Eastern countries in recent years, especially with its neighbors. In this respect, one of the most significant steps has been taken in Turkish-Syrian relations. The exemplary relations have been going through a phase of transition from competition to integration for almost a decade.
With the 1998 Adana Protocol and the following developments, relations started to become normalized and have been proceeding toward a model partnership for the rest of the region. The second meeting of the Turkish-Syrian High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, or HSCC, held on Dec. 20-21, 2010, was one of the most concrete/tangible signals of the progress concerning bilateral relations.
The first HSCC meeting held on Oct. 13, 2009, in Aleppo and Gaziantep created many historical opportunities for cooperation, such as the signing of 51 treaties which had previously not been realized by either country. No more than a decade ago, it was almost impossible even to imagine that the prime ministers of these countries could sit around the same table and discuss cooperation possibilities. However, nowadays the prime ministers sign social, economic and political agreements, make efforts to deepen relations and try to accomplish a mutual vision for the future of the region.
The trade volume between Turkey and Syria, which had not exceeded even 1 billion dollars just 10 years ago, is now expected to reach around 5 billion dollars in a few years. The trade volume, which was 1.4 billion dollars during the first ten-month period of 2009, has increased to 2.1 billion dollars within the same period of 2010. Furthermore, thanks to the visa exemption policy, the number of mutual visits between peoples of the two countries has skyrocketed. In 2010, 750,000 Syrians entered Turkey while the number of Turks visiting Syria reached 1.35 million people.
Within this framework, 11 agreements were signed between Turkey and Syria during the second meeting of the HSCC with the participation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari, accompanied by a number of ministers from both countries. Following the meeting, both parties reached an agreement on documents concerning cooperation on social services, child protection, the supply and distribution of electricity and sustainable energy, energy protection, real estate, environmental protection, development and housing. All of this was in addition to the cooperation among the State Planning Commission, the Turkish Development Bank, the Turkish Finance Ministry and the Turkish Undersecretariat of the Treasury. These developments that added new dimensions to the matter are all signs of the establishment of deep-rooted relations. What is more, the construction of the Nusaybin-al-Qamishli Customs Gate and a friendship dam on the Asi River, the establishment of a Turkish-Syrian bank and the provision of high-speed train services between the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep and Aleppo show the great progress reached in a very short time span.
In addition to all these far-reaching improvements, the two countries, which once came to the brink of waging war against each other because of terrorism issues, have now agreed on cooperation on counter-terrorism, as both have declared terrorism a common enemy and decided to pursue a decisive policy against the threat.
In this respect, Syria has already extradited at least 110 terrorists to Turkey. In the same way, operations against members of terrorist organizations are being conducted in line with Turkish demands.
Beyond the advantages of all these bilateral efforts for Turkey and Syria, it is of vital importance that these developments could set a precedent for other regional countries. In this regard, Syria is seen as the locomotive country of the region. As it is considered an important gate to the Arab market, it is highly likely that any sort of improvement in relations with the country will have a spillover effect and be taken as a model by others. That is to say, one of the most effective ways of encouraging other countries to take initiatives is to establish such a model partnership with Syria. As a result, countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt have reiterated their will to see Turkey successful cooperate with them as it does with Syria.
With the establishment of better relations with regional countries, Turkey aims to do more than simply take care of its own interests. There is a much broader aim of expanding the atmosphere of prosperity and welfare to the whole region. These policies have gradually brought fruitful consequences. One of the striking examples is the establishment of a High Level Strategic Cooperation Council between Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon for the creation of a long-run strategic partnership and free-trade zone between the countries.
Therefore, it seems that the Turkish-Syrian model partnership will be able to transform the region into a more prosperous, developed and livable place. Although Turkey has not been able to realize its model partnership with the United States, it is clear that it has not stayed idle while waiting for U.S. President Barack Obama.