Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kikapu]

Turkey’s Rules

By JAMES TRAUB
Published: January 20, 2011

"And yet, despite all the mutual interests, and all of Davutoglu’s energy and innovation, something has gone very wrong over the last year. The Turks, led by Davutoglu, have embarked on diplomatic ventures with Israel and Iran, America’s foremost ally and its greatest adversary in the region, that have left officials and political leaders in Washington fuming. Obama administration officials are no longer sure whose side Turkey is on."

"The truth is that for all his profound knowledge of the history of civilizations, Davutoglu misread the depth of feeling in the U.S. about both Israel and Iran, or perhaps overestimated Turkey’s importance. This is the danger of postimperial grandiosity. “They talk as if they expect a merger between Turkey and the E.U.,” says Hugh Pope, head of the Turkish office of the International Crisis Group. “They think they’re more important than Israel.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/magaz ... ref=europe

[Paphitis]

Interesting article from the NYTs Kikapu!

People should take the time to read all of it.

It just goes to show that Turkey is testing the patience of the US and other close allies.

I firmly believe that we are witnessing some subtle shifts between Turkey and its relationship with Israel and friends.

And as I told many before, a new power axis is developing between Israel, Greece, Cyprus and another between Cyprus, Germany and France. It will all revolve around Oil and Gas at the end of the day, and Israel/US mean business. Merkel also means business. I wonder if she has apologised yet???

Oh and APAC will be visiting Athens in the comming days along with Hillary Clinton. I wonder what that is all about?

Try to enjoy the ride everyone. It will be turbulent!!

The only country that is letting the team down now is Greece, because it has not yet defined its maritime EEZ borders with the RoC. Shameful!

[quattro]

A few months before he became Turkey’s foreign minister, Davutoglu visited Washington to meet with the incoming Obama team. He was dazzled. George W. Bush, he thought, had been America’s Caesar; Obama would be its Marcus Aurelius, its philosopher-king. “There will be a golden age in Turkish-American relations,” he predicted. It hasn’t worked out that way, and Davutoglu can barely process a setback so at odds with his grand intellectual and policy construct. He says that he was “shocked” when the U.S. opposed a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation of “the outrageous attack by the Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla.” (The administration said such a commission seemed to be rushing to judgment, and it endorsed instead a panel convened by the U.N. secretary-general.) But the professionals Davutoglu has surrounded himself with are not deluding themselves about their plight. “We’re getting a lot of flak from the Hill,” says Selim Yenel, the official in the foreign ministry responsible for relations with Washington. “We used to get hit by the Greek lobby and the Armenian lobby, but we were protected by the Jewish lobby. Now the Jewish lobby is coming after us as well.”

where is the "no problems within our NEIGHBOURHOOD"

[Gasman]

And just a day or so ago ...

US says Ricciardone’s appointment evidence of Turkey’s importance

The US State Department spokesman has said the appointment of Francis J. Ricciardone as ambassador to Turkey is a reflection of the importance that the US attaches to its relationship with Turkey.


Philip J. Crowley, speaking at the Foreign Press Center on Thursday, said the US is encouraged by the arrival of one of its most experienced and outstanding diplomats, Ricciardone, who is now the US ambassador to Turkey.

Ricciardone arrived in Ankara on Thursday and in his first remarks emphasized the friendship between Turkey and the US in Turkish. He began his career in the Foreign Service 32 years ago in Turkey.

“We had been supporting his nomination throughout the past year and regretted that the Senate did not take action on his nomination,” Crowley said. But, as a reflection of the importance of the relationship between the United States and Turkey, he added, that they did not feel that this was a post that could go without an ambassador for an indefinite period of time.

US President Barack Obama recently wielded his authority to make a recess appointment for Ricciardone, bypassing the Senate’s approval.

Crowley said his appointment is a reflection of the significance of the work that the US and Turkey do, both on a bilateral basis and in terms of the work that the two countries do cooperatively to try to solve challenges “whether it’s Iran on the one hand or Lebanon on the other hand.”

Stressing that he will be an excellent representative of the US, the spokesman said he is experienced and has been in this region before, having firsthand experience in Turkey. “And I expect he will fully engage the government, the opposition and, broadly speaking, Turkish society,” he noted.

Ricciardone on Thursday expressed his pleasure at being posted to Ankara and voiced the will to further improve bilateral relations between his country and its NATO ally.

“Turkey is a very important country both for its region and for the US. Each passing day, it is becoming a more important, heavyweight and influential country,” Ricciardone said at the airport.

[Gasman]

And ...

US senior officials to visit Turkey - Two senior officials from the U.S. Department of State will visit Turkey before January ends.

Releasing a written statement on Friday, the U.S. State Department said that Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez and Ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer would pay visits to Turkey.

Accordingly, Fernandez will be in Turkey between January 24-27 as part of the U.S. capital's commitment to expand and intensify the economic ties between Turkey and USA, the statement said.

Fernandez, accompanied by Michael C. Camunez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance within the International Trade Administration, will hold talks with representatives of the Turkish government on issues such as trade, investments, pharmaceutical industry, energy, agriculture and transportation as part of the visit, the statement noted.

The two officials are also expected to meet with representatives of the Turkish private sector in order to discuss opportunities to improve cooperation between Turkish and U.S. firms.

Fernandez will also pay visits to several Turkish universities and deliver speeches at two conferences, the statement added.

Ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer will be in Istanbul between January 22-26 to attend the opening of a conference on women's role in economic development, the State Department also said.

Verveer is also expected to get together with representatives of NGOs and journalists during her visit, the department noted.

[Gasman]

And yesterday - Wall Street Journal ...

Turkey emerges as key player in Mideast: U.S. paper

A leading U.S. newspaper said on Saturday that Turkey's involvement in attempts to resolve the major problems in the Middle East showed how the country was emerging as a key player in the region.

In an article titled "Turkey Presses Role as Mideast Referee", the Wall Street Journal said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's deep involvement in helping to mediate the Lebanon crisis, as well as Istanbul's hosting the nuclear talks with Iran showed how Turkey had emerged as a significant player in the Middle East.

"Turkey's involvement in attempts to resolve two of the Middle East's toughest diplomatic disputes this week has underscored its emergence as a key player in the region, after decades spent on the sidelines," the paper said.

Wall Street Journal's article said that diplomats and analysts believed Turkey was perhaps the only country in the region that was able to speak easily to Sunnis and Shiites, as well as Hezbollah and Washington at the same time.

Referring to several statements by Davutoglu, the article said the Turkish minister had stated that Turkey's interest in Iran negotiations was not a luxury, as Turkey, Iran's neighbor, would be the first country hit by nuclear escalation in the region, or tension between the West and Iran, or sanctions against Iran.

Describing Davutoglu as "a fixture in crises around the Middle East in recent years", the piece also said, "Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned into something of a political rock star in the region after adopting a tough stance against former ally Israel".

Political rock star?

[Kikapu]

Interesting article from the NYTs Kikapu!

People should take the time to read all of it.

It just goes to show that Turkey is testing the patience of the US and other close allies.

I firmly believe that we are witnessing some subtle shifts between Turkey and its relationship with Israel and friends.

And as I told many before, a new power axis is developing between Israel, Greece, Cyprus and another between Cyprus, Germany and France. It will all revolve around Oil and Gas at the end of the day, and Israel/US mean business. Merkel also means business. I wonder if she has apologised yet???

Oh and APAC will be visiting Athens in the comming days along with Hillary Clinton. I wonder what that is all about?

Try to enjoy the ride everyone. It will be turbulent!!

The only country that is letting the team down now is Greece, because it has not yet defined its maritime EEZ borders with the RoC. Shameful!

Welcome back, Paphitis.

In the same article, Turkey was taking "orders" from Iran in how to vote in the UNSC on sanctions against Iran. This did not go well with the US at all.

"The Turks had announced their diplomatic coup at precisely the moment the Obama administration finally induced Russia and China to vote for tough sanctions on Iran in the Security Council. Davutoglu says he never took a step without informing the Americans, but American officials said that the terms of the deal took them by surprise. The Turks mostly hid their hurt feelings. But in early June, the rift with the U.S. played out in public when Turkey and Brazil voted against the sanctions resolution. Turkish officials say the last thing they wanted was to defy the U.S. on a matter of American national security, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said he would consider the “swap deal” terminated unless Turkey and Brazil voted against the resolution. They were, they insist, voting for continued diplomacy, not for Iran or against the United States and the West."

[runaway]

+ Obama's first official trip was to Türkiye. In the past, US presidents visited Türkiye and hellass at the same time to keep some sort of balance. Nowadays they seemed to have let go of hellass

[Paphitis]

Interesting article from the NYTs Kikapu!

People should take the time to read all of it.

It just goes to show that Turkey is testing the patience of the US and other close allies.

I firmly believe that we are witnessing some subtle shifts between Turkey and its relationship with Israel and friends.

And as I told many before, a new power axis is developing between Israel, Greece, Cyprus and another between Cyprus, Germany and France. It will all revolve around Oil and Gas at the end of the day, and Israel/US mean business. Merkel also means business. I wonder if she has apologised yet???

Oh and APAC will be visiting Athens in the comming days along with Hillary Clinton. I wonder what that is all about?

Try to enjoy the ride everyone. It will be turbulent!!

The only country that is letting the team down now is Greece, because it has not yet defined its maritime EEZ borders with the RoC. Shameful!

Welcome back, Paphitis.

In the same article, Turkey was taking "orders" from Iran in how to vote in the UNSC on sanctions against Iran. This did not go well with the US at all.

"The Turks had announced their diplomatic coup at precisely the moment the Obama administration finally induced Russia and China to vote for tough sanctions on Iran in the Security Council. Davutoglu says he never took a step without informing the Americans, but American officials said that the terms of the deal took them by surprise. The Turks mostly hid their hurt feelings. [b]But in early June, the rift with the U.S. played out in public when Turkey and Brazil voted against the sanctions resolution. Turkish officials say the last thing they wanted was to defy the U.S. on a matter of American national security, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said he would consider the “swap deal” terminated unless Turkey and Brazil voted against the resolution. They were, they insist, voting for continued diplomacy, not for Iran or against the United States and the West."[/b]

A lot of what is mentioned in the article is also backed up by thousands of leaked US State Department memos which illustrate the United State's disdain for Davutoglu, Erdogan and Turkey in general.

What can any sane person expect when we can see that the Israeli, and Cypriot EEZ are potentially rich in Oil and Natural Gas reserves, and after the MAVI Marmara fiasco, and Turkey voting against the Iran sanctions.

Yes, this has not gone down too well with the US and not only. It would not have gone down too well with NATO, Israel and other important allies.

All of a sudden, the Israelis want to be our friends. It is little wonder when Turkey begins to grandstand its "vision" within its "sphere of influence".

Playing power politics with Israel is something the US is not even willing to do!

[Kikapu]

+ Obama's first official trip was to Türkiye. In the past, US presidents visited Türkiye and hellass at the same time to keep some sort of balance. Nowadays they seemed to have let go of hellass

Sure Obama went to Turkey first, to give them a lecture on Turkey's past and present problems with her own people and other Nations and what they need to do in the future to correct them, and yet they fucked it up when it came to USA, Iran and Israel. Notice how the Parliament didn't like anything Obama said but sat there and took it anyway, except when he condemned the PKK in the last few seconds of this part 2 video, that the Turks liked what Obama said.!



Obama's Speaking Turkish Parliament Part 2
(On Cyprus at 5 minutes of the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0AbkTNssg&NR=1