Thursday, 23 December 2004[NEWS IMPRESSION]
'We are Happy, The EU Will Be Our Neighbor'
While we are still discussing whether the decision taken in Brussels on December 17th will open the door of full membership to Turkey some day, Syria has already become excited about the prospect of being a neighbor of an European Union (EU) member.
All the Syrian journalists, common people and intellectuals we talked to could not contain their pleasure that Turkey was becoming closer to the EU. While some of them pointed out that because of this their country will have a door opening directly onto Europe, others stress that it will contribute a great moderating effect for the Arab and Islamic world's relation with the West. This evaluation is a boost to those who think that Turkey's membership will be a great contribution to relations among civilizations, cultures and religions in the West and especially in Europe.
Journalist Habib Selman, who works at Syrian television, thought that Turkey's accession to the EU would not be a loss to the Islamic world but a great profit for it. Stressing the importance of being a neighbor of an EU country, journalist Jihad Murshit also disclosed that the Erdogan government had found the right policy on Iraq and Palestine and had taken steps to protect Syria from dangers. Another remarked that almost every Syrian wished to visit Istanbul and that his wife had returned from Istanbul only several days before, he also pointed out that the people never approved the policy Damascus had held towards Turkey before 1999.
Although its program had already been planned, Erdogan's Damascus trip with three ministers, ten deputies, more than 120 businessmen and many journalists immediately after the EU summit not only encourages the positive meanings attributed to the EU process in the Middle East, but also gives messages about the many layered foreign policy that Turkey will follow. While Erdogan's trip after such a tough test in Brussels has flattered the vanity of Syrians, the foreign policy concerns extend in many directions. Erdogan's Moscow trip, planned to be held in the middle of January, will strengthen this approach.
The Damascus administration faces multilateral pressures, such as Lebanese opposition's demands to remove about 14,000 troops from that country, Israel's closure of its doors to organizations such as HAMAS and Islamic Jihad, the US' economic embargo and neo-cons' explicit threats. All these increase the value of the friendship extended by Turkey.
After his testing time in Brussels, the Turkish Prime Minister was so relaxed that he interrupted his host, who had forgotten to give him a chance to speak during a question and answer session. Erdogan criticized the bureaucratic oligarchy at the signature ceremony where ministers and bureaucrats of the two states stood facing each other and demanded Otri not to allow bureaucrats to spoil the relations. The Turkish Prime Minister then turned to his counterpart and spoke to him in Arabic saying: "Neam ya Seyyidi- Is it okay, sir?" Erdogan spoke to the Syrians who were watching Erdogan's broadcast speech, calling them "brothers" and showing special care for Arabic public interest via media, Erdogan had asked the Ankara representatives of the Arab media to join his delegation. Erdogan announced in an interview published in the Syrian media that the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul would bring the mediation mission between Damascus and Tel Aviv to the agenda again. Syria's attention to the visit was noticeable as Syrian media had put the issue in the headlines a few days before the visit and used high praise in the news reports. Hosting Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri came to the airport to meet his guest at the steps of the airplane.
It was disappointing that the Syrian band could not play the Turkish National Anthem until several hours before the plane landed, but all the Syrian cabinet except for those who were unwell or abroad came out for the welcoming ceremony. Syrian protocol officials at signature ceremony of the Free Trade Convention called Erdogan the President, and though the translation adviser in the Turkish delegation apologized for his mistake, it was written in the text by the Syrian side. When the Turkish side objected to the Turkish text of a speech of Otri distributed to the press ending that "we agreed" statements which criticized Israel heavily, the text was compared with its Arabic original. There it was reported that there were statements which mentioned it. At last Otri gave his speech without depending on the text. Prime Minister Otri got angry with reporter from Al Hayat who asked whether talk of a common barrage on the River Asi meant that the water problem was solved which was further evidence of Syria's desire to improve the relationships. Erdogan's promise of technical support for Syria to pump more water from the River Tigris pleased the Syrians.
I think, we need to work hard to keep alive the excitement that our neighbor feels for our journey to the EU and the expectations of the Muslim world towards Turkey.
ABDULHAMIT BILICI, Zaman, DAMASCUS
23 December 2004 |
Thursday, 23 December 2004
Turkey & Syria
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