BY ALI BAYRAMOGLU
YENI SAFAK- Two basic axis of the Turkish foreign policy, namely, relations with the US and the European Union, is getting on the right track again. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to the US was aiming to remove the atmosphere of tension between the two countries and renew the relations directly and through first-hand contacts. This visit reached its aim with its main lines. Firstly, both parties are accepting the differences of each other. Therefore, one shouldn’t take the clamor in the Turkish and the US press about such issues as anti-US approach in Syria and Turkey into seriously. Of course Syria is a field of problem between the two countries. There is a difference between the US’ policy of full isolation towards Syria and Turkey’s stance to favor the establishment of a democratic change not in a short period of time and through persuasion. However, it should be emphasized that this difference isn’t about the essence, but method. In addition, the change of method in US President George W. Bush’s regional policies and the fact that this change started to influence the Turkish-US relations generally and in terms of Syria should be emphasized. Lecturer Ömer Taþpýnar summarizes this change in one of his articles as follows: ‘The problems experienced by the US in Iraq was instructive in terms of showing the problems of military alternative. The Bush administration understood the impossibility of democratization as a result of military operation in Syria and Iran. Even the most fervent new conservatives in Washington can’t talk about changing the regime in the Middle East by force. In this situation, all hopes are dependent on the process of democratization as a result of the economic, social and cultural development to be created by the Greater Middle East Initiative. In other words, firstly social and economic development and than the concept of democracy is dominant. In this respect, Turkey gained a new importance for the US in discussions on the Islam world and democracy. This increasing profile derived from the fact that Turkey has been considered the most successful example of the theory of modernization and more importantly, Turkey’s population is Muslim. Thus, the place of Turkey, but the essence of Turkey started to be considered important following the Sept. 11 attacks. In other words, now Turkey is gaining importance and value not only in geostrategic terms, but also in terms of its political and civilization identity.’ Within this framework, even if the Erdogan government couldn’t solved all the problems with its relations with the US, it could seize an atmosphere of calmness when compared to the situation of 5-6 months ago and removed the picture of crisis. A similar analysis can be made on the Turkish-EU relations. A question mark was put on these relations following the French and Dutch rejection of the referendum on the EU Constitution. Of course, this question mark is continuing and it will continue to exist for a long period of time. The route followed by the Eu and the model it adopted was interrupted and the process of enlargement started to be discussed. Meanwhile, the decision taken on December 17, 2004 was confirmed during the EU Foreign Ministers meeting and it was stated that the process of enlargement would continue. Thus, there is no political obstacle before starting membership negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3 and the technical obstacle was solved to a great extend when the EU approved the additional protocol that will provide new EU member countries with the opportunity to benefit from the Customs Union Agreement. This obstacle will be removed completely with Turkey’s approval. Obviously, Turkey could reach a healthy basis within temporary and critical balances internationally. We hope that domestic and foreign inputs wouldn’t spoil this balance.