CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on Turkey's multifaceted foreign relations. A summary of his columns is as follows:
It was at the end of the 1990s. While talking with a Georgian at the banks of the Kura River, which bisects Tbilisi, I asked him what he hoped to do in life. He told me, 'I want to be able to live in Turkey. Sooner or later Turkey will be part of Europe." Now, we Turks always point to our problems. And our problems fester, we criticize them in the harshest way, but we should not forget that the countries around us consider Turkey a "great nation." Based on my observations from official and private travels to neighboring countries, Turkey's success in becoming a member of the EU will strengthen its relations with its neighbors, and Turkey's friendly relations with its neighbors will strengthen its bid for EU membership. One goal is not an alternative to the other, but rather they complement each other. Let us enumerate Turkey's various relations; the European Union: Our discussions for full membership are under way. The Customs Union is continuing, although it works against us. Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC): Turkey continues to take an active role in this tent group spanning more than 50 Islamic countries with a population of one billion people. Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC): This is one of the new alliances formed in the post-Soviet geography. We are one of the leaders of this group. Balkan cooperation: The common summits and various bilateral relations in the Balkans that were remade after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO): This was founded between Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in 1985. The Central Asian republics came into in it in the 1990s. This seems to be dead. Central Asian institutions: There are many common forums, including the Turkic-speaking countries summit and the summit of the Turkic-speaking head of states. Caucasus: The US has decided to participate in the common area between Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan as well. The Eurasian Agreement: This was signed between Turkey and Russia. It is up to our mutual will to implement it. Mediterranean pacts: The name of many initiatives in which northern Africa and southern Europe meet. Turkish-Israeli relations: These are improving in every area, including agriculture and defense. Now I've just rattled off ten fields of relations. Let we reiterate; the strongest of these links is the EU. However, if Turkey can establish firm relations with its neighbors and succeeds in becoming a regional power, it will be able to strengthen the EU link. Looking at the other side of the coin, we can see that the EU member countries do not ignore the links deriving from their own individual structures. For example, Britain has not break off its relations with the Commonwealth and other English-speaking countries. France has tried to forge ties with Canada's French speakers. Germany is trying to fulfill its desire to gain a foothold in Mesopotamia by leaning on the EU. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania have established cooperations beyond their common EU membership goal. While other nations are busy establishing ties based on their own region and culture, Turkey cannot just twiddle its thumbs and wait for EU membership!
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION