| The Conservative Friends of Turkey hosted a fringe meeting on Monday at the annual Conservative Party conference that featured as speakers Turkish Ambassador to the UK Ünal Çeviköz, Minister for Europe David Lidington and Dr Gülnur Aybet of the University of Kent. | |
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Under the title “Turkey-UK Strategic Partnership in a Changing World”, the meeting discussed how Turkey’s new role as a regional mediator was challenging whilst is also improving. Additionally, the panel praised Turkey’s increasing internal democratisation.
Dr Onur Çetin, who founded the Conservative Friends of Turkey, opened the meeting. The audience was reminded by Ambassador Çeviköz of the new strategic partnership agreement signed between Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister David Cameron last July. David Lidington reaffirmed the idea that Turkey’s relationship with the UK is imperative, particularly as the Turkish economy increases in prosperity and as Turkey’s strategic role in the Middle East and Central Asia becomes more crucial.
Turkey in the West
Dr Aybet, an expert in international relations, rejected the notion that it is distinctive of Turkish foreign policy to follow anti-Western rhetoric before entering into a coalition. “Turkish foreign policy is not that easy to read; it is not that simple,” she said.
“The NATO intervention in Libya and Turkey’s role in this has to be seen differently from the confusion as micro and macro roles,” she said, adding that Turkey was not the weaker partner in the intervention and did not hesitate to work with the intervention because of their supposed relationship with Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. Rather, “it was a continuation of Turkish policy,” she said.
Dr Aybet asserted, “Turkey has always been reluctant to get involved in regional conflicts or Western intervention, so it was a very traditional foreign policy.” She argued that Turkey only began to take a leading role in order to prevent an Anglo-French alliance that was to work outside of the NATO coalition. Turkey, she said, wanted to contribute on humanitarian terms.
However, she added that the EU must “be careful in how they talk about Turkish foreign policy in public.”
She stressed that Turkey is not dependent on EU accession and a Western alliance, and warned that Turkey could find alternative regional deals if the West fails to implement a coherent strategy. The West needs to “start treating Turkey as a regional partner rather than a functional ally,” she said.
She noted that the UK frequently stepped in as the “balancing actor” when Turkey’s relations with the US “have been strained”. She said, “The UK has been a consistent supporter of Turkey’s UK bid.”
Improving relations
When asked whether Turkey’s relationship with the UK was deeper than a mere strategic alliance, Lidington replied that “it certainly needs to be a lot deeper than that. And I know that the prime minister’s intention is that it should be deeper than that.”
Praising Turkey’s booming economy, Lidington said Turkey has growth rates “that the European leaders can only envy.”
On the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU, Lidington affirmed the UK’s support for Turkey’s bid, declaring, “We remain committed to the Turkish accession.”
Under the title “Turkey-UK Strategic Partnership in a Changing World”, the meeting discussed how Turkey’s new role as a regional mediator was challenging whilst is also improving. Additionally, the panel praised Turkey’s increasing internal democratisation. Dr Onur Çetin, who founded the Conservative Friends of Turkey, opened the meeting. The audience was reminded by Ambassador Çeviköz of the new strategic partnership agreement signed between Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister David Cameron last July. David Lidington reaffirmed the idea that Turkey’s relationship with the UK is imperative, particularly as the Turkish economy increases in prosperity and as Turkey’s strategic role in the Middle East and Central Asia becomes more crucial. Turkey in the West Dr Aybet, an expert in international relations, rejected the notion that it is distinctive of Turkish foreign policy to follow anti-Western rhetoric before entering into a coalition. “Turkish foreign policy is not that easy to read; it is not that simple,” she said. “The NATO intervention in Libya and Turkey’s role in this has to be seen differently from the confusion as micro and macro roles,” she said, adding that Turkey was not the weaker partner in the intervention and did not hesitate to work with the intervention because of their supposed relationship with Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. Rather, “it was a continuation of Turkish policy,” she said. Dr Aybet asserted, “Turkey has always been reluctant to get involved in regional conflicts or Western intervention, so it was a very traditional foreign policy.” She argued that Turkey only began to take a leading role in order to prevent an Anglo-French alliance that was to work outside of the NATO coalition. Turkey, she said, wanted to contribute on humanitarian terms. However, she added that the EU must “be careful in how they talk about Turkish foreign policy in public.” She stressed that Turkey is not dependent on EU accession and a Western alliance, and warned that Turkey could find alternative regional deals if the West fails to implement a coherent strategy. The West needs to “start treating Turkey as a regional partner rather than a functional ally,” she said. She noted that the UK frequently stepped in as the “balancing actor” when Turkey’s relations with the US “have been strained”. She said, “The UK has been a consistent supporter of Turkey’s UK bid.” Improving relations When asked whether Turkey’s relationship with the UK was deeper than a mere strategic alliance, Lidington replied that “it certainly needs to be a lot deeper than that. And I know that the prime minister’s intention is that it should be deeper than that.” Praising Turkey’s booming economy, Lidington said Turkey has growth rates “that the European leaders can only envy.” On the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU, Lidington affirmed the UK’s support for Turkey’s bid, declaring, “We remain committed to the Turkish accession.” Source: Zaman |
