Syriza's Take On Turkey And The AK Party

Syriza's electoral victory in Greece garnered more attention than was expected in Turkey, with parties from all across the political spectrum bending over backwards to show just how close they were to Syriza. And in fact, the Syriza victory was celebrated with gusto on Twitter, one of the most important social media platforms for intellectuals in Turkey.

But relations between Turkey and Syriza are not new. In fact, Syriza first had ties with the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) and then later with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). And Syriza has even had some limited contact in the past with the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C). In the meantime, events like Gezi and reactions to the death of Berkin Elvan received attention and support from Syriza in the form of statements and even banners. On a more international, but still Turkey-related, front, Syriza has also prepared banners in response to the events in Kobani, even holding a campaign to raise assistance funds. And in fact, a parliamentary delegation from Syriza read a public statement on the topic of Kobani in November 2014 in Suruç.

Syriza is in fact an alliance of leftist parties, which is why it is not at all surprising that some of the many elements represented in its ranks would have different relations with various leftist movements in Turkey. Syriza, however, has no link whatsoever to the Republican People's Party (CHP). While both the ÖDP and the HDP sent representatives to observe the Jan. 25 general elections, the CHP did not show any interest. It was only after Syriza's electoral victory that the CHP appeared to have discovered Syriza.
It is anticipated that CHP deputy chair Selin Sayek Böke will visit Syriza at home in Athens in a bid to strike up relations between the CHP and Syriza. During an interview I held in November 2014 at CHP headquarters -- in which I noted that Syriza appeared to be heading toward victory in Greece and that such a victory might mean it would be helpful for the CHP to have relations with Syriza -- the general response I heard to this was, “There's no need for that now.”
In the meantime, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Syriza do enjoy high-level relations. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, after the third meeting of the Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council on Dec. 5-6, spent a full one-and-a-half hours with Syriza head Alexis Tsipras in the VIP lounge of the Athens airport.
There were three important points with regards to this face-to-face meeting. The first was that normally Davutoğlu does not hold talks with opposition leaders in countries where he is on official business. The second is that Tspiras does not normally meet with visiting foreign heads of state. And the third is that it is a well-known fact that Tsipras has been greatly influenced by the economic and social performance and developments seen in Turkey over the past decade and sees them as setting an example for Greece.
For this reason, it is expected that the AK Party will offer up technical help to Syriza in order to help it be successful. When the AK Party came to power, it was expected that Turkish-Russian relations would suffer. But the opposite occurred, and a golden era began to unfold between the two countries. In the same vein, it should surprise no one if what we see happen is that the greatest support for Syriza comes from the AK Party, and that Greek-Turkish relations enter into a brand new era.

Muslim and ethnically Turkish citizens of Greece tended to cast their ballots in favor of Syriza in Sunday's general elections. This is also a factor that may well contribute to warm relations between the AK Party and Syriza. In the Western Thracian region, where Syriza won more than 50 percent of the vote, this leading party picked up a total of seven MPs (the breakdown being three from Evros, two from Rhodop and two from Xanthi). Of these seven new Syriza MPs, three are ethnically Turkish. The fact that Greece has failed at producing effective minority policies has contributed to the high levels of support for Syriza among Muslim and Turkish citizens of Greece.

Syriza also has strong nationalist strains. For example, the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI), which is a part of the Syriza alliance, is known for its strong nationalist reflexes. In fact, DIKKI was originally formed by the nationalist left that broke away from the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). During his Athens visit, Davutoğlu wanted to visit with ethnically Turkish MPs, but was not able to do so with those from the Syriza party. For this reason, we can characterize Syriza's approach to Turkey policy as “careful.”

HASAN KANBOLAT (Cihan/Today's Zaman)