MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen writes about the possible effects of the current political situation on Turkish foreign policy and the steps that should be taken.
If we take into consideration the urgent steps that should be taken in foreign policy matters, we’ll see how unfortunate the current political crisis is. Issues such as our relations with the European Union, direct talks in Cyprus and a possible US intervention in Iraq all require decisive, active leadership. Right now, however, Turkish leadership lacks both qualities. At the head of government, we have an ailing prime minister who is being urged to resign. Disagreement has recently surfaced among the coalition partners, especially on the subject of democratic reforms, and now we witness a split within the senior partner Democratic Left Party (DSP). It doesn’t matter how hard diplomats tried to defend Turkish positions, the political crisis was bound to give rise to doubts on matters such as Cyprus and relations with the EU, for example. The recent events surprised even the diplomatic bureaucracy, but there’s nothing they can do other than to wait and see. If politics centres upon a government crisis or early elections then we will have to put the EU process on hold, because neither the government nor the Parliament will have any time to carry this process forward. Until last week, EU officials were hoping that Turkey would take a decisive stand, despite disagreement within the government, and that this December’s Copenhagen summit would have a positive outcome for Turkey. Now, however, they are doubtful. It’s still not too late to make this happen, though. The only way it’s possible, however, is for the Turkish Parliament to convene as soon as possible (before September even) and pass the EU adaptation laws. If the political crisis escalates, Turkish politics will become ‘reactive’ (as opposed to ‘proactive’) and this will mean a lack of strategy if, for example, the EU decides in favour of the accession of Greek Cyprus. So we can say that, if Ankara is preoccupied with internal politics for the next few months, this will constitute an excuse to avoid making hard decisions. Turkey should take decisive steps to achieve its goals because ‘playing for time’ sometimes amounts to nothing other than time lost.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION