AKSAM- Columnist Kemal Yavuz comments on the NATO summit held last week in Prague. A summary of his column is as follows:
A NATO Heads of State and Government summit was held last Thursday and Friday, Nov. 21-22, in Prague. In the post-Cold War period, radical changes in the nature of potential threats have led to a wholesale transformation of the alliance. NATO has added new security functions to its traditional mission of common defense and adopted a new well-known mission as an international peacemaking organization to these new threats, undergoing a number of significant structural changes along the way.
NATO’s 1999 Washington summit was pivotal for the history of the alliance since it paved the way for discussions on NATO’s new mission. There, the NATO members approved a Membership Action Plan (MAP) which was ‘designed to reinforce that firm commitment to further enlargement by putting into place a program of activities to assist aspiring countries in their preparations for possible future membership.’ They also approved the alliance’s new Strategic Concept to meet the new threats and profound security challenges of the era coming on the heels of the Cold War. In addition, the membership of three countries, namely, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, was approved, and nine other countries including Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Albania and Macedonia obtained candidate status.
As we all know, as a preparatory meeting for the Prague summit, a week earlier the 48th General Assembly of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly was held on Nov. 15 in Istanbul. The member countries again discussed the alliance’s new mission under three officials groupings: 1) International Terrorism, 2) Weapons of Mass Destruction, and 3) International Organized Crime.
The Prague summit convening after all these significant developments was a historic gathering since its overall theme was the alliance’s transformation, and the members meeting there committed themselves to transforming NATO with new members, new capabilities and new relationships. There were three main issues on the official agenda of the meeting. 1) Enlargement (meaning new members), 2) new relations, and 3) new capabilities. The member countries decided to invite Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to begin accession talks to join the alliance. They also commended Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Croatia for their significant progress on reforms and strong support for alliance operations, as well as for important steps in overcoming their internal challenges and advancing democracy. These three countries will be under consideration for future membership.
In addition, NATO affirmed that, in accordance with its Founding Act and the Rome Declaration, it is determined to intensify and broaden cooperation with Russia, underlining that the NATO-Russia Council as equal partners is making progress in areas such as peacekeeping, defense reform, and the struggle against terrorism, all towards their shared goal of a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe. Another significant decision made at the Prague summit was to form a NATO Response Force (NRF) consisting of a technologically advanced, flexible, and sustainable force ready to move quickly whenever and wherever needed.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer along with officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Office of the Chief of General Staff represented Turkey at the summit. The decisions on new members and new capabilities were largely line with Turkey’s foreign policy. Furthermore, President Sezer had the opportunity to meet with EU officials in Prague to discuss Turkey’s membership bid and its expectations as a candidate country. Upon returning to home soil, Sezer conveyed his Prague impressions and the results of the meetings he held there to his fellow politicians like so: ‘The EU is being insincere and dishonest to Turkey!’
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION