By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
According to an early 2011 opinion poll in Turkey, a sizable segment of the Turks views the United States and Israel as the biggest threats to Turkey, followed by Iran, Greece, Iraq, Southern Kurdistan, Russia and Armenia.
Ever since its relations with much of the West, including the European Union, the United States and Israel, began faltering, Turkey’s Islamic government staked its political fortunes on the Middle East and Muslim world.
Direly needing good news to offset the paralyzing effects of a chain of bad news, and in an effort to put his state on a pathway to political and economic gains, Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu fabricated a policy of “zero problems with neighbors.” However his policy, criticized by several observers as neo-Ottomanism, received a series of blows as a result of Ankara’s insincerity with its neighbors.
In 2009 Turkey attempted to trick Armenia into signing the infamous Protocols that imposed on Yerevan to de-facto recognize Turkey’s present borders at the expense of world Armenians. Armenia and Armenians have long been demanding the return of Turkish-occupied lands in Western Armenia, also known as Wilsonian Armenia.
The policy, saddled by many flaws, further exposed Turkey’s political weaknesses.
Feeling isolated, Ankara openly competed with Egypt for the coveted leadership position in the Arab Middle East; and to rekindle its Ottoman stature. However, “Unlike the revolution in Egypt, where Erdogan was quick to denounce Hosni Mubarak and call for a handover, he has been largely silent on the current uprising in Syria. That parallels Turkey’s response to the uprising in Libya, where Turkish companies had billions of dollars in construction contracts and some 25,000 workers. Libyan rebels have since accused Ankara — a NATO member — of supporting Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. … Erdogan’s reticence in addressing the violent crackdowns on civilians in Libya and Syria has also sparked criticism that he has double-standards when he picks his fights. Just two years ago, he caused an international stir by vocally condemning Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza. Relations with Israel never recovered: Turkey has not had an ambassador in Tel Aviv for months,” recently wrote Pelin Turgut in a Time.com article titled “How Syria and Libya Got to Be Turkey’s Headaches.”
“Turkey styled itself as a ‘wise elder’ and role model in the region, but when push comes to shove; it has become apparent that it has little influence over what is happening. … This is the point where Turkish foreign policy hits the wall. … Turkey now finds itself very alone on the world stage. … Relations with Europe have soured, and what will happen in the Middle East is uncertain. But it didn’t need to be this way,” stated Soli Ozel, international relations professor at Bilgi University and a political columnist.
“In pursuing its economic interests in a region such as the Middle East, where the state is heavily involved in economic decision making, Turkey has had to create strong bonds with many existing regimes. … Paradoxically, these linkages have made Turkey into a status-quo power, unwilling to see dramatic change. And not surprisingly, first Libya, and now Syria, is creating serious headaches for Turkey,” wrote Henri Barkey, an expert on Turkey, in an article for the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.
Back in August 2010 I had accurately characterized Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors” as an utter failure, underlining the fact that “because Turkey is troubled by its internal and external problems, and in order to get temporary relief from its internal and external woes, it practices state-level self-indulgence under the banners of now-defunct ‘zero problems with neighbors,’ and, ‘re-emerging power broker’ between the Arabs and the Israelis.”
I had also quoted Barkey as writing in Los Angeles Times in July 2010: “Although Turkey is a country of laws, it does not embrace the rule of law. Its 1982 constitution, drafted by a military junta, is designed to protect the state from its citizens and not vice versa. Application of the law is arbitrary and allows the state to persecute whomever it wants whenever it wants. This has not changed one iota under the AKP. … The Turkish government’s increasing overtures toward non-Western governments is driven in part by an over-inflated sense of its importance on the world stage. … This ambition weighed down by an unhealthy dose of hubris is one of two drivers of the new foreign policy.”
Besides having problems with outside neighbors, Turkey also has dozens of problems with its internal “neighbors” such as millions of Kurds, hidden Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, Assyrians, Jews, Lezkis and other minorities.
Turkey’s problems are even more compounded by its state of war with the Armenian Diaspora. Several Armenian activist groups have launched worldwide “Boycott Turkey” campaigns.
Upon learning of Turkey’s genocidal record and its continued denial of the crime against humanity; continued illegal blockade of Armenia; the occupation of Northern Cyprus, Western or Wilsonian Armenia, Northern and Northeastern Kurdistan, a number of investors have already divested Turkey. Now, the international political climate can help foster that boycott by further weakening Ankara’s standing both economically and politically.
During an official visit to Switzerland Tuesday, President Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia accused Turkey of “driving a wedge” between Armenia and the Diaspora and warned that such posturing was diminishing the chances of rapprochement between the two countries. “Instead of taking steps to ratify the protocols, Turkey, at the highest international forums, continues its shortsighted effort to drive a wedge between Armenia and the Diaspora,” said Sarkisian after talks with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey. … “I am amazed that in Turkey they don’t fully comprehend that the Diaspora, which was created as a result of the Genocide, is an inseparable part of Armenia and the Armenian people—it is our pride. It is our strength. … From the first moments of the reestablishment of the Armenian statehood, our compatriots around the world, through their work, proved that the strengthening of our homeland is their ultimate dream,” added Sarkisian.
On April 23, in effort to amplify Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus, Greece boycotted Turkish-organized World Children’s Games in Constantinople (Istanbul).
Because of the now-defunct protocols, Turkey has begun demolishing a statue meant to celebrate “reconciliation with Armenia” a few months after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced it as a “freak.” Preparations for the dismantling began April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
On the Kurdish front, Turkey committed a major international blunder in April. In a politically-motivated ruling that has angered Kurds, Turkey’s High Election Board (YSK) on April 18th barred several pro-Kurdish politicians from running in the upcoming June election. Reuter’s news agency reported “massive protests shook Turkey following the banning of 13 Kurdish politicians.”
Following mass demonstrations and international outcry, the decision was quickly reversed. But the crackdown on Kurdish politicians has continued with the additional arrests of 35 members of the BDP on April 25th.
They are accused of links to the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organization of Kurdish groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and bent on establishing a shadow government in Kurdish populated areas. Fearing the triggering of its breakup, Turkey has instituted a very high election threshold that is designed to make it more difficult for Kurdish parties to represent themselves.
Turkey’s other problems lie in the state-sponsored continued suppression of the identity of millions of forcibly turkified Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Lezkis, Assyrians, Arabs, Jews, Alevis, among others.
Turkey’s troubled relations with its neighbors and the fallout from the Arab Spring uprising are reminiscent of WWI-era political climate that triggered the break-up of the Turkish Ottoman empire. The time may be ripe for the completion of that process. Many Turkish leaders are privately fearful that the current flow of events will sooner or later deal Turkey the final blow. What is now called Turkey is the last vestige of Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Davutoglu, the architect of “zero” policy is forced to walk through a terrain full of booby-traps that are inherited from the country’s dark past. Clearing of these mines requires clear mind and conscience. For now, in the absence of such overtures, “zero problems with neighbors” policy amounts to zero.
