OPINION
Friday 21st of November 2008 03:03:52 AM  GMT+2 
 

 

Turkish diplomatic offensive on all fronts

Abdullah Gul was in Washington a few days ago and now he is off to Cairo. This shows the dynamism and growing strength of Turkish diplomacy in its region. Gul will be meeting Mubarak before Bush arrives in Cairo as part of his Middle East tour.


Ilnur Cevik
15 January 2008

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

President Abdullah Gul is just back from a successful visit to the United States and is now off to Cairo to meet President Hosni Mubarak to discuss pressing issues like the revival of the peace process, the impasse in Lebanese elections and the Iraqi situation.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now in Spain at a forum to discuss dialogue between civilizations.

Turkish leaders are all over the map.

President Gul is proving to be a great asset for Turkish foreign policy as he moves from capital to capital enhancing Turkey's international standing.

On Sunday Mr. Gul called this columnist and stressed that he too felt the visit to the United States could have been undertaken at a later date. He said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been to Washington in early November and it would have been appropriate to go there at a later date. But the president said President Geoge W. Bush wanted this visit to be held immediately before he set off on his trip to the Middle East.

Now Bush is expected in Cairo soon but before that Gul will meet Mubarak for an exchange of views.

Gul is pleased with the results of his visit to the United States saying it showed the massive support the U.S. is giving to Turkey in the fight against the PKK in northern Iraq and that the two countries have now brought their relations back to the warm level of the past thus President Bush has qualified the relations as strategic partnership. He has went as far as to say the talks were held between two friends.

He is also happy that he will be meeting Mubarak before Bush arrives and thus he will have the opportunity to discuss some fine tuning with the Egyptian leader.

Turkey has grown into a new role in recent times as the moderator, mediator and peacemaker in the region. It is trying to get Israel and Syria to discuss their problems directly, it is trying to end the dangerous impasses in Lebanon and of course it has emerged as the kingmaker between Israel and the Palestinians.

So it is only normal that Turkey as a regional power will hold political consultations at the highest level with the Egyptians who are also leaders of the Arab and African world.

Egypt and Turkey can compliment each other as they strive to turn the Middle East into a region of stability and peace instead of an area of discord.

The more Turkey can achieve this goal or at least play a constructive role for peace and stability it will further enhance its importance in the eyes of the United States and the European Union.

All Artices of Ilnur Cevik



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