23.05.2013 09:09
As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan completed a successful trip to the United States last week, Turkey's position on key regional and global issues is the subject of a heated debate once again.
As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan completed a successful trip to the United States last week, Turkey's position on key regional and global issues is the subject of a heated debate once again. Cynics dismiss the meeting between Prime Minister Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama as no more than a diplomatic show and ceremony without substance. Some fault Erdoğan for being too ambitious, and others accuse Obama of being too weak and indecisive on Syria.
One important rule of thumb in international politics is that nothing really works in absolute terms. Those who want instant miracles and those who dismiss everything as empty and meaningless err on the side of both accurate knowledge and sound analysis. Much of the political commentary on the current state of US-Turkish relations and Erdoğan's recent visit to the White House is marred by a lack of just that.
The two leaders had a long list of issues to discuss. Bilateral economic relations, Syria, the Middle East peace process, Iraq, the Iranian nuclear program, Afghanistan and the post-NATO preparations after 2014, Cyprus, Myanmar and the post-revolutionary situation in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were among the issues covered. This list by itself shows the breadth of US-Turkish relations. The relations between the two countries are always more than just bilateral relations.
As expected, Syria topped the agenda. The two sides agree on the urgency of the Syrian crisis and discussed the immediate steps to be taken to stop the human carnage in Syria.
Turkey's problem is that it is too close to the Syrian crisis. With a 900-plus-kilometer border and over 300,000 refuges on Turkish soil, Turkey cannot remain indifferent to a wildfire as big as Syria next door. This was confirmed over the last couple of weeks with the massacres in Banias and the car bomb attack in the Turkish border town of Reyhanlı claiming 54 lives.
The problem with the US policy is that it is too distant from the Syrian crisis. It is understandable that President Obama does not want another long-term and costly problem in the region when the US is just completing its program of disengagement from Iraq and Afghanistan. But the problem does not go away when you turn your back on it. The Syrian crisis has a major impact on the regional balance of power and serious repercussions for global politics. The fears of sectarian violence and the rise of fringe radical groups are real. The way to counter this fear is to address the issue rather than avoid it.
This is the main thrust of the criticism leveled against the Obama administration on Syria so far. But the problem does not lie with the US only. The rest of the international community including the Arab states have been indecisive and confused about what to do in Syria and how. Each country calculates its move according to the dictates of its domestic politics.
Yet one thing is clear: The longer the Syrian conflict continues, the more pressing the issue will get. The gist of the Obama-Erdoğan meeting on Syria is that all available resources will be mobilized to help the Syrian people and empower the opposition without foreign troops on the ground. In fact, there is much that can be done without a foreign military intervention.
Part of this is to use diplomatic channels and get Russia on board. This is the purpose of the Geneva II meeting where immediate steps can be taken for political transition -- a transition that will eventually see the departure of Bashar al-Assad and the key culprits of his illegitimate regime.
Syria is neither a peculiarly Turkish issue nor a solely American responsibility. Turkey did not start the war in Syria. Neither did the US or the Arab League. Bashar al-Asad, instead of listening to the legitimate demands of the Syrian people, chose the path of brutality and mass murder. His brutality, ethnic cleansing or use of chemical weapons, therefore, should not and will not stop the international community from acting with resolution and unity.
The weeks ahead will not bring about immediate miracles, but the hope for Syrian people is not lost, either.
İBRAHİM KALIN (Cihan/Today's Zaman)