Turkey's New Pm Unveils 62Nd Government Program

Turkey's new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu revealed the government's agenda Monday and said the foreign policy vision is for "peace" and "open dialog." 



The government's foreign policy goals were read as "Turkey being an actor who contributes to the solution of global problems" and the provider of "an effective, just, versatile and respected foreign policy."



Davutoglu explained that during the AK Party's twelve-year-ruling, there has been a "massive transformation" in democracy, humanitarian development and in the economy.



"Foreign policy cannot be apart from those, our stance in foreign policy is our people's stance," he added.



The prime minister also said Turkey's European Union membership goal will be pursued with the opening of more "chapters," or policy areas through negotiation with the EU, who have been tough on Turkey for political reasons.



"It is unfortunately clear that Turkish public opinion on the situation is sceptical because of our European friends' misunderstanding," he continued. He also spoke on NATO, and said that Turkey will continue to support the organization's political and military activities.



On the issue of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Davutoglu said Turkey will pursue diplomatic action for Turkish Cypriots to have global recognition.



The island of Cyprus has remained divided into Greek and Turkish sides since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish peace mission to aid Turkish Cypriots in the north in 1974.



The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized solely by Turkey, whereas the Greek Cypriot administration is an EU member and recognized internationally.



Turkey's ruling party's leader also said there will be no "normalization process" with Israel unless the country removes the limitations imposed in Gaza and permanently stops their attacks.



On the foreign policy agenda of the fresh government is the pursuit of democracy in the Middle East, North Africa and Syria. For Syria, Davutoglu said the process should be aimed at democracy and the freedom of the Syrian people.



Davutoglu referred to the situation in Ukraine as well, and said Turkey expects a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine tension via international law and dialog.



Another hot point on the foreign policy agenda was relations between Turkey and Armenia. The agenda said one of the crucial points of Turkey's normalization process with Armenia is the handling of tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Turkic country situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. 



After a six-year war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the two former Soviet republics reached a ceasefire in 1994. The truce has been disrupted by sporadic cross-border incidents but the clashes in August have seen the greatest number of casualties in 20 years.



The agenda stressed that Turkey is a "donor country" and will continue to be the "helping hand" to whoever is in need, especially within the coordination of its cooperation agency, TIKA in providing aid and shelter to those in need from its neighboring countries.



"The official development aid total was around $336 million in 2004, and it reached around $3.2 billion in 2013," said the Turkish prime minister.



Turkey ranked third in 2012 among the countries providing aid. The country continued its successful record coming third once again with the provision of $1.6 billion -- just after the U.S. and the United Kingdom.



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