Haberler      English      العربية      Pусский      Kurdî      Türkçe
  En.Haberler.Com - Latest News
SEARCH IN NEWS:
  HOME PAGE 29/03/2024 16:19 
News  > 

The Gulf's UAE Is Good Match For Turkey

21.10.2014 12:06

The main paradigm defining relations between Turkey and the Arabian Gulf, especially with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the regional security, defense, trade and energy cooperation. The UAE appears to have positioned itself well to complement Turkey's role in the Middle East and the Gulf given the common approaches between the two countries on several pressing challenges. The most striking common feature one can see is that both societies boast moderation in religious teachings. The Emiratis' moderate brand of Islam and progressive Arab-Islamic values are a good match for Turkey's also progressive approach but with Turkish-Islamic values. Both cultures feature a brand of Islam that balances tradition, with moderation, tolerance and flexibility. In that sense, the UAE and Turkey are complementary. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, raised that point at the opening of the inaugural forum of the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, hosted by the Emirates

The main paradigm defining relations between Turkey and the Arabian Gulf, especially with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the regional security, defense, trade and energy cooperation.

The UAE appears to have positioned itself well to complement Turkey's role in the Middle East and the Gulf given the common approaches between the two countries on several pressing challenges.

The most striking common feature one can see is that both societies boast moderation in religious teachings. The Emiratis' moderate brand of Islam and progressive Arab-Islamic values are a good match for Turkey's also progressive approach but with Turkish-Islamic values. Both cultures feature a brand of Islam that balances tradition, with moderation, tolerance and flexibility. In that sense, the UAE and Turkey are complementary.

Anwar Mohammed Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, raised that point at the opening of the inaugural forum of the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, hosted by the Emirates Policy Center on Sunday. He emphasized that cultural and educational measures, among a broad range of tools, are required in combating extremism in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf. He underscored that the UAE is willing to cooperate with its partners in all these efforts. His point is that the Emirati people are proud of having built a “model of tolerance and moderation in a region that has too often been driven by extremes.”

Gargash's point highlights the urgent need to develop a counter-narrative to battle extremist ideologies that have given rise to radical groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). The fact that both Turkey and the UAE have both focused on building a modern state with world-class education and special emphasis on moderation in religious values gives us hope for the future.

In that sense, the real challenge lies in whether we will be able to reform education starting from K-12 (primary and secondary education) all the way to college level to improve the quality of schools and overhaul the curriculum to offer a good mix including mathematics, engineering, physics and social studies with special emphasis on moderation and progressive values of Islam. In that way, we can empower the new generation to better respond to challenges from the lingering influence of extremist ideologies.

The problem we all face from political Islamist movements that try to engineer social design from the top after a takeover of power can also be addressed through education. Turks and Emiratis have both a keen interest in preventing radical views from poisoning the social or political climate. We have already seen how damaging that was in Turkey today when a small but influential group of political Islamists effectively seized the ruling party and government in Turkey. That explains why the recent changes in Turkey's foreign policy in the Middle East do not match the overriding national interests of Turkey.

For understandable reasons, not many people in the Gulf dare to speak openly about the strong challenge of the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, which is very orthodox and potentially gave rise to fundamentalist movements. But they all harbor deep suspicions towards Saudi Arabia, where one day this ideology may take over the regime and pose a grave threat to the Middle East, the Gulf and beyond. Turkey will also be vulnerable to such an ideology, which has already partial traces in al-Qaeda, the Taliban and even in ISIL. In contrast, the UAE does not have a strong Wahhabi leanings that may create any uneasiness in Turkey.

Another driving factor that pushes Turkey towards the UAE is the Iranian challenge in the region, be it in the form of waging proxy battles in neighboring countries or destabilizing their social fabric with divisive and politicized sectarian ideology, or threatening with potentially nuclear arms. It seems only the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf have a firm understanding of Iran's looming threats. Qatar, Oman and Kuwait have either pursued accommodationist policies with regard to Iran, or send conflicting signals. The precarious Bahrain is already in no position to make any move on the Iran file.

Perhaps the UAE is punching above its weight when it comes to political influence and more importantly its ambitions. But the Abu Dhabi government certainly proved to be an influential player in its immediate neighborhood and beyond, especially when it acted in close partnership with other key players in the region and in cooperation with the major powers of the world.
There are lots of areas that can prove the cooperation with Turkey will be successful. Take the UAE's increased visibility in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Turkey has successfully managed to work with both countries for many years, establishing trilateral dialogue to bridge the divide and heal the mistrust between the two Muslim neighbors, while helping rebuild the Afghan nation after years of war, conflict and sectarian, ethnic and tribal feuds. Turkey's capacity and capability to deliver, although it is limited, can be enhanced if it cooperates with an Arab player such as the UAE, a country that has been active in both Afghanistan and Pakistan for some time now.

Turkey and the UAE have common interests in countering challenges in sectarian conflicts in countries such as Yemen, Lebanon and Syria or fundamentalists threats such as ISIL or al-Qaeda. They both pursue peaceful a nuclear power program to diversify energy supplies. They also have shared interests with regard to Israeli-Palestinian peace, although political Islamists in Turkey shifted open support to Hamas at the expense of Fatah, and that created some friction between Turkey and the Gulf partners.

The potential in business, investment and trade is also there. The UAE, the second largest economy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is Turkey's largest export market in the Gulf with $10.4 billion in trade in 2013, although there was a drop of $2.5 billion in the first eight months of this year in comparison with the same period last year, reflecting economic woes in world trade. This trade is double what Turkey has with Saudi Arabia.

Turkey, as an emerging economy, is a good destination for the UAE's investment drive and diversification policy. It fits nicely into the UAE's 2021 agenda that will hopefully turn the UAE as "one of the best places in the world to do business" by adapting to changing global realities. The ambitions of both Turkey and the UAE to maintain and strengthen their positions as regional commercial and transportation hubs also resemble each other in many ways.

In fact, when Turkey and the UAE partner together, they can better counter Iran's sanction-busting regime, which primarily uses these two countries to extend its economic outreach as well as circumvent sanctions for sponsoring terror and pursuing nuclear ambitions. If Ankara and Abu Dhabi coordinate well and present a united front, it may exert more pressure on Tehran to revisit its policies.

The massive corruption scheme in Turkey that incriminated senior officials and led to the resignation of four ministers involved several Iranian nationals who lived both in Dubai and İstanbul. They used both countries to move state funds in bypassing the financial sanctions in terms of gold exchange or fictitious trade. Many officials were bribed in both Dubai and in İstanbul in this big graft dragnet that allowed Iran to beat sanctions.

When the pervasive nature of all these threats and challenges both Turkey and the UAE face together are listed, there are more reasons to push them to realign their policies to better coordinate. That precious and perhaps historical opportunity should not be sacrificed to some disagreements and difficulties stemming from the current political climate.

ABDULLAH BOZKURT (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
Latest News





 
 
Top News