BY AYSE ONAL
STAR- Foreign ministers and senior officials from 25 countries and several international organizations yesterday met in London to help the Palestinians realize their dream of having an independent, viable state. Turkey wasn’t among the invitees. I think this was Britain’s first chilly message to our country. Turkey had been preparing to assume an active role in efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Although we’ve been preoccupied with the recent tension with Washington, I think the real crisis is about to erupt with the European Union. Only a couple of months ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was one of the most ardent supporters of Turkey’s EU membership bid.
Blair has assembled an impressive list of participants, including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as well as representatives of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Palestinian leaders expect global backing for their plans to reform their security forces and stamp out corruption, which is truly an urgent issue. Israel recently called on UN Security Council members and EU countries’ ambassadors to hold a closed-door session where it will disclose the evidence of corruption in the Palestinian administration.
In addition, Syria is another hot topic of discussion, because Damascus is unwilling to change its regional policy although the US and its allies are warning it to do so. The Lebanese people are currently trying to buck Syrian control over their country. However, even in Turkey, some fail to see just how much Syria’s regional policy damages the Middle East. These groups are trying to defend Damascus, the capital of a regime which makes no secret of its support for terrorists.
The Bush administration’s new policy is to stand by Europe and cooperate with its leaders against the supporters of terrorism. There will no longer be tension between the ‘new’ and ‘old’ continents. I’m not sure if Turkey is closely following these developments. But if it did, Ankara would be there in London as a participant. As the US and Europe are trying to overcome old problems and mend fences, Ankara must also adopt its regional policy to these changes.