US needs to adapt to new Turkish posture, says FM Davutoğlu
Sunday, December 26, 2010
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Turkish-U.S. relations have been through turbulent periods in the past and may become strained again, according to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who told journalists Saturday that Turkey wanted to be influential in global politics and have a more robust role in the relationship. ‘It will take time for the U.S. to adapt to this situation, but I see this as a healthy process,’ he said
Turkey’s views need to be taken into account by the US while it shapes its policies, Davutoğlu said. AA photo
Turkish-U.S. relations have been through turbulent periods in the past and may become strained again, given that the nature of the relationship is changing, according to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
It will take time for the U.S. to become accustomed to the necessary mentality change, “since Turkey does not want to be a strategic ally of the U.S. from the security perspective only,” the foreign minister told a group of journalists Saturday.
Turkey’s views need to be taken into account by the U.S. while it shapes its policies, Davutoğlu said. “It will take time for the U.S. to adapt to this situation, but I see this as a healthy process,” he said.
Turkey wants to be influential and visible in global politics, he said, adding that this ambition has been one of the main pillars of the current government’s policies. “Turkey wants to be one of the countries shaping the new world order. We want to establish the image that Turkey is a country to contribute to the restoration of the international system,” he said.
“We don’t want to be a country adapting to the system. We want to be a central country whose word carries weight, a country that says how the United Nations system or G-20 should be shaped, a country offering a view on how the global financial crisis should be solved,” he said.
Davutoğlu has been asked by many of his colleagues when Turkey would announce its candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, he said, adding that Turkey was very successful in this seat during 2010. “Turkey will apply for a non-permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council, at the latest, within the next 10 years,” he said.
Strengthening Turkey’s strategic direction since the cold war era has been another essential aim of government policy, Davutoğlu said, adding that despite frustration over the slow pace of European Union membership negotiations, Turkey has the political will to pursue its EU bid. “Turkey’s future is in the EU. Without the EU we will be like a body with one arm cut off. And the EU’s future will be shaped with Turkey.”
Davutoğlu dismissed speculation that Turkey is drifting away from the West, saying that 51 percent of his 81 visits abroad this year had been to North America and Europe, while 27 percent to the Middle East, 17 percent to Asia and 5 percent to Latin America and North Africa. If Turkey had lost its neutrality, Istanbul would not have been chosen as the site for the next round of nuclear talks between the West and Iran, he said.
An Ottoman Commonwealth
Davutoğlu denied having said that Turkey wants to establish an Ottoman commonwealth-styled political system in an interview with the Washington Post. “Neither me, nor the president or the prime minister have ever talked about an Ottoman Commonwealth,” he said, adding, however, that he has never shied away from using history as a reference point for interpreting contemporary affairs.
Turkey cannot manage foreign policy in the absence of knowledge of history, he said. “I said during a conversation with the Washington Post that Turkey is a nation state and is equal to the tiniest state in the Middle East. We do not want to dominate. We want to integrate with our region by making our borders more flexible.”
Turkey is a successfully multicultural state
“I say this independent of Jackson Diehl [author of the Washington Post article], but we are facing psychological warfare because of our increasing influence. We are shaking the anti-Turkish and anti-Ottoman feelings that dominated the mentality of some Arab intellectuals,” said Davutoğlu, adding that some people were unhappy with Turkey’s improving relations with its neighbors and wanted to spread the view that the “Turks are coming back.”
“We are improving our relations with the Serbs for instance, and some feel concerned about it,” he said.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=us-needs-to-adopt-to-new-turkish-posture-says-fm-davutoglu-2010-12-26
hard to believe this idiot is the FM of turkey...but great ally for us though...
