Turkish people have been very disappointed by accession problems, Ahmet Davutoglu tells MARY FITZGERALD
AHMET DAVUTOGLU is often referred to as Turkey’s Kissinger. Before he was appointed foreign minister in mid-2009, Davutoglu’s vision of Turkish foreign policy, outlined in his 2001 book Strategic Depth, was already hugely influential. The way Davutoglu sees it, Turkey’s geopolitical and geostrategic position gives it the potential to become a major regional as well as global actor.
“We should not isolate ourselves, but instead develop such a vision that in all these continents and geographies Turkey should be a leading player,” Davutoglu told The Irish Times during a visit to Dublin.
“Of course Turkey’s traditional strategic relations like the EU and Nato are the backbone of Turkish foreign policy . . . with that backbone we must have a very active diplomacy everywhere so Turkey can contribute to regional and global peace.”
The architect of Turkey’s dialogue with all the political players in the Middle East, Davutoglu was key to fostering Ankara’s mediation efforts between Syria and Israel, and he has managed relations with Tehran. But Turkey’s growing engagement on various Middle East issues has prompted some critics to dub his policies as “Neo-Ottomanism” – a term he dismisses. “This is the historical background but [we are] not trying to revive [the] Ottoman [era]. We are even more visionary,” he said, noting Ankara’s burgeoning relations with sub-Saharan Africa, South America and the Asia-Pacific.
He rejects the suggestion that, with popular support for EU membership slipping at home, Turkey’s focus appears to have tilted eastward in recent years.
“Our integration into the EU is a strategic, historical choice of the Turkish nation, and it will continue. Our active involvement in other regions is an asset to our relations with the EU, rather than an alternative to the EU,” he said.
Davutoglu bemoans the “politically motivated problems” that have stood in the way of EU membership. “No other candidate country has faced these types of problems,” he argues.
“Turkish people are really disappointed. There was huge enthusiasm for Turkish EU integration . . . in spite of all these difficulties, the government has full determination to continue.”
Davutoglu, who visited Tehran last month, strikes something of an optimistic note when discussing prospects for resolving the stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme. “I cannot give the details, but the gap between the two sides is not as huge as it has been presented to the public.
“[A solution] could be achieved, but here two things are important: good intentions and strong political will. If the two are there we can make a solution, but if you want to punish each other, there is no way to make a deal . . . Mutual harsh statements against each other create an absence of confidence, which limits the manoeuvring space for diplomacy.”
Ankara is “working very hard” to revive the Syria-Israel talks, which foundered after the Israeli military offensive on Gaza, he says. “If both sides are ready to start, Turkey will do everything possible to start a new approach, because our region now needs strong commitment for peace.”
He admits Turkey’s relations with Israel have deteriorated since the Gaza conflict. The offensive was a “sabotage” of the peace process, he says. “If the Israeli side improves its approach in the direction of peace in the region, we will have everything to do with Israel for future steps towards peace.”
Discussing efforts to restart the moribund peace process, Davutoglu said the objective of any talks should be to “produce the end of the road, not another road map”. “In the region, everyone wants to know what the endgame is,” he said. “There should be a clear vision . . . it should be a result-oriented, productive, constructive process.”
Asked about the fallout from a US congressional committee vote last week describing as genocide the first World War killing of Armenians by Turks, Davutoglu says the episode has damaged Ankara’s “normalisation” efforts with Armenia, and relations with the US administration. Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Washington. “We were expecting a much more influential intervention by the White House,” he said. “Of course the US is our strategic ally, but we cannot accept any insult to our nation through such a process, which is not serious but just addressing the local political context of certain members of congress.
“We will not allow such an unjust approach to our history. Our American friends should understand they don’t have any privilege to make historical judgments based on their own local political needs.”