Sunday, 26 April 2009
In the last few years, Turkey's foreign policy has started to be much more influential than it was in the past, which is in part attributed to its leading politicians' personal relations with leaders of foreign countries, interpreted by political scientists and strategists as being the "human factor" in diplomacy.
Since 2004, Turkey has made great progress in its relations with neighboring countries and beyond. During this time period, for example, despite the fact that they are continuing somewhat more slowly than expected, accession talks with the European Union were initiated after a tireless pursuit of 17 years since 1987, the year Turkey first applied to be a candidate for the bloc. Moreover, the country recently assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council with the support of 151 out of 192 UN members. It also became a mediator for a sustainable peace in the Middle East; with the roadmap agreed upon, the normalization of relations with long-estranged Armenia is on its way and already beyond Turkey's old understanding of foreign policy. While the leap in foreign relations is clear, the present question is, how big is the impact of this human factor on increasing Turkey's soft power?
Looking up the word in the dictionary, one finds that "diplomacy" refers to the art and practice of conducting negotiations between states without arousing hostility. It is then a combination of skillful political tactics generally accepted to have a peculiar language of its own, which leaves almost no space for emotions and individuality according to most politicians. For instance, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan walked off the stage at a World Economic Forum panel at Davos over Israel's offensive and killings of civilians in the Gaza Strip, most of the criticism came up with regards to ErdoÄŸan's inability to act diplomatically. For many, that was not the way to handle an international affair in a diplomatic way. Although there were many others applauding ErdoÄŸan's attitude, those who considered it diplomatic were very marginal. Hence, it seems clear that almost all agree on diplomacy's exclusive way in taking care of inter-state affairs, according to which, expressions of anger have to be within strict boundaries, too, if not categorically unwelcome.
Friendships in diplomacy?
However, in search of an answer for what kind of a role friendship between leaders has in foreign relations, one would hardly receive statements downplaying it from the same politicians who consider the disclosure of anger improper in diplomatic behavior. For Turkish citizens, such relationships have not been seen as odd for the last couple of years. To name a few, President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister ErdoÄŸan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Babacan are drawing considerable public and media attention with their good personal connections and friendships visible on the international political stage.
Many times Turks have witnessed signs of this troika's stunning relations with the leaders and high representatives of some countries, the most recent one being ErdoÄŸan's visit to Germany last week on the occasion of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's birthday party, where Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former French President Jacques Chirac were present, too. On the other hand, whereas President Gül is known to be respected, particularly among the leaders of European and Middle Eastern countries, mostly as the fruit of the connections he built during his term as foreign minister (2003-2007) that he is improving as president, Babacan is also increasingly appearing more as a political figure in terms of his personal friendships with other politicians, with whom he meets often because of the nature of his position.
However, ErdoÄŸan is undoubtedly the one taking the lead in this trio with his individual connections. His jealousy-arousing good relations, particularly with his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are well known to all. Whilst Berlusconi even attended the wedding of the Turkish prime minister's son, Bilal ErdoÄŸan, as his witness in Ä°stanbul in 2003, ErdoÄŸan and his wife meet with the al-Assad couple from time to time as friends, other than only in meetings of an official nature.
What do experts say?
Strategists and political scientists stress the significance of such friendly and genuine relations in diplomacy. Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Professor Gökhan Bacık from Fatih University said foreign relations are ultimately relations between human beings, but there are two other reasons that explain why Turkish foreign policy has become much more effective under these particular leaders.
"First, in Western liberal thinking, the politicians' ideas and their conformity with what they believe are highly valued. For the first time in Turkish political history, Turkish leaders -- Gül and Erdogan -- are perceived by the Western world as statesmen who are consistently pursuing a certain set of ideas, which creates trust, respect and a reputation for them. Secondly, with the revival of the Turkish business sector and civil society, Turkey is now a country whose leaders are going abroad with their hands full of opportunities, such as economic investments and quality educational institutions available for the guest country. Those leaders are now integrating the foreign policy of Turkey with its citizens themselves and their aggregate potential. They are prioritizing the human factor in foreign policy and deliver concrete benefits rather rhetorical approaches," Bacık said, adding that Turkey now has leaders representing the country to the rest of world by their unquestioned political personalities, a situation, Bacık said, not seen very often in the past.
Dr. Sedat Laçiner, the director of the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), told Sunday's Zaman that such friendships and personal relations between leaders can be explained by the intensified interaction between them. "When our president and prime minister started to go to some foreign countries five to six years ago, we got used to hearing from the media that most of them were marking the first visits to those countries in, say, 40 years, as was the case in Gül's visit to Iraq. They are now meeting 40 times a year. That is the change. Meeting in such a frequent manner allows them to establish personal connections, which contribute to bilateral relations far more than presumed," strategist Laçiner said, noting his conclusions of how important the human factor is in diplomacy in order to overcome the obstacle of communication between states.
26 April 2009, Sunday
