The end of Turkey’s ‘precious loneliness’ may be on the horizon
https://arab.news/mrjq6
In 2013, Ibrahim Kalin, who was chief foreign policy adviser to then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the time and is today’s presidential spokesperson, introduced the term “precious loneliness” to international relations literature in a bid to justify the state of Turkey’s Middle East policy, which was very much criticized in those days.
In a tweet, he said: “The claim of Turkey’s loneliness in the Middle East was untrue, but if this was the claim, then I should say this is a ‘precious’ loneliness.” When he first mentioned this term, a serious diplomatic row had broken out between Ankara and Cairo. Turkey, which already had strained relations with Syria and Israel, had also started to see difficulties with some Gulf states. Since 2013, the mutual efforts made to restore Turkey’s ties with Egypt, Israel and the Gulf states have not yielded any serious fruits.
However, with shifts at the international and regional levels in sight, there are some indications that these problematic relations may soon get back on track. Kalin, who is known to be effective and influential within the government, recently stated that Ankara is seeking a thaw in relations with the Arab world, and he seems especially keen on improving ties with Cairo. In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Kalin said: “A new chapter can be opened … in our relationship with Egypt as well as other Gulf countries to help regional peace and stability.” Strikingly, he mentioned that Turkey considers Egypt to be the “brain of the Arab world, the heart of the Arab world,” despite its struggles with economic and security issues, which Ankara fully understands.
Soon after these remarks were made, influential commentators, who have been both supportive and critical of the government's Middle East policy, expressed their views on a possible thaw in Turkey’s ties with Egypt and Israel. Former Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis, a founding member of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), said: “How Turkey has created problems in relations with Egypt while they weren’t at odds, it also created issues with Israel due its support for Hamas. We have no deep-rooted problems with either Egypt or Israel.” Prominent conservative columnist Fehmi Koru wrote in his blog that foreign policy was not a flat area to be determined by unilateral decisions, criticizing the immediate turn in Turkish foreign policy. He wrote: “Even if one-sided will is enough to break relationships, mutual will is required to fix the broken relationships. It is difficult to convince others that domestic or foreign policies have changed without changing oneself.”
Former ambassador and current lawmaker Unal Cevikoz tweeted that looking at Turkey’s relations with Egypt purely from the perspective of maritime jurisdiction would be a myopic foreign policy approach. “Respect for the Egyptian people can be achieved through a holistic foreign policy,” he added. Meanwhile, several pro-government journalists and academics that had been harshly critical of the current Egyptian rule have also started to call for the immediate normalization of Turkish-Egyptian relations.
The recent overtures to Egypt and Israel are perhaps indications that Turkey’s foreign policy is changing and the term “precious loneliness” is finding its way to the dusty pages of history books. Let us take a brief look at the recent developments that prove this change in foreign policy.
On Tuesday, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that Tel Aviv was ready to cooperate with Turkey on natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean. He also expressed hope that Ankara could join the East Mediterranean Gas Forum in the future. Turkey has not yet responded to this statement, just as Egypt has not responded to Turkey’s recent message. So these positive signals are being sent from the various capitals and the coming days will show if and how they will turn into concrete actions.
Then came the news that Turkey and Greece will hold the next round of exploratory talks on the eastern Mediterranean in Athens on March 16-17, while there would be simultaneous political consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Turkey is a very important ally, adding: “If you only look at the map, you can understand its importance.” In response to a question about Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, Stoltenberg said: “Differences between NATO allies are not a new thing, and the alliance is a good platform to discuss these differences and problems and find solutions to them.”
There are some indications that Ankara’s problematic regional relations may soon get back on track.
Sinem Cengiz
On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met in Doha, while Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin together virtually launched the construction of the third reactor at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, vowing to further strengthen their cooperation.
In retrospect, this is not the first time in the Erdogan era that Turkey has found itself at odds with Europe, the US and Russia, while also being disliked by most of its neighbors at the same time, before making overtures to restore ties. Kalin said in 2013 that the government's foreign policy was based on “values and principles” rather than daily necessities. Having principles and values for a consistent foreign policy is important. However, it is hard to sustain a foreign policy based only on these two qualities. Foreign policy also requires pragmatism and adjustment to political conjuncture. If there are mutual interests between states, conciliation is always possible.
- Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey's relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz
