5 - 11 July 2001
Issue No.541
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 5 - 11 July 2001 Issue No.541 |
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Triangular ties
The Turkish Ambassador to Egypt, Aykut Cetrige, finds himself his country's top diplomat in Cairo at a time when questions are raised about the close military collaboration between Turkey and Israel. Other prickly issues such as Turkey's dispute with Syria and Iraq over the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and Turkey's periodic and controversial infiltration deep in Iraqi territory, have surfaced, blemishing the ties between Turkey and the Arab world. Ambassador Cetrige, who previously served as ambassador to Afghanistan and was head of the Middle East section at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed an opportunity to speak frankly about these and other touchy topics to Gamal Nkrumah. Extracts from the interview follow:
Aykut Cetrige
On what grounds does Turkey justify close links with Israel given the current explosive situation in the Middle East?
Turkish-Israeli military cooperation is a bilateral affair and does not need to be justified in any other way. A close analysis of developments since that cooperation started will clearly show that it has not been against a third party or parties.
Our principled policy of supporting the Palestinian cause has not changed but strengthened. Turkey has always voted for resolutions in the UN and elsewhere in favour of Palestinians. During the last Intifada, Turkey has publicly criticised Israeli action as an excessive use of force and as unacceptable.
Turkey has recognised the State of Palestine since its declaration. The Palestinian Ambassador to Ankara has served there so long that he has been the dean of the diplomatic corps for several years, and the Israeli Ambassador is a member. President Arafat has been welcomed a head of state in Ankara numerous times.
These good relations with Palestine and Israel have led President Arafat to ask Turkey to get more involved in furthering the peace process and Israel is also in favour of this idea. Turkey is willing to do its best as a facilitator to help bring peace to the region.
Does the fact that Turkey is a NATO member state (since 1952) and is the southeastern bulwark of NATO pose a threat to sovereignty and territorial integrity of Arab countries, especially given the previous record of Turkish intervention in northern Iraq?
NATO, and Turkey as a member of that alliance, has never posed a threat to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of any Arab country. Turkey sometimes takes temporary measures with regard to northern Iraq, but that has nothing to do with NATO.
Since the unfortunate developments caused by Iraq in 1990 and 1991, Iraqi security forces have evacuated northern Iraq. Turkey in no way can be blamed for this situation. But as a result, the local, non-governmental forces that exist in northern Iraq were not able to provide enough security to prevent terrorists from forming bases in the area where they train their elements, and infiltrate them through the Turkish border to kill Turkish people. Therefore, Turkey has taken measures whereby Turkish forces carry out cross-border activities to prevent the terrorists from posing a threat to the lives of the Turkish people. These measures are always temporary.
Maintaining Iraqi territorial integrity is a basic Turkish policy. Therefore, Iraqi security forces will eventually return to northern Iraq. When that happens we will solve this problem by cooperating with the Iraqi government. Such cooperation was successfully carried out before the present unfortunate conditions appeared.
What is Turkey prepared to do at the United Nations and other forums to ensure the re-integration of Iraq into the international community?
Turkey has also suffered because of the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq. We have not only lost remarkable trade with Iraq, but also a very good transit trade with the Gulf countries over Iraq. We are also very sorry that sanctions cause the suffering of the Iraqi people. We advocate changes in the sanctions and we are in constant consultation with some of the permanent members of the Security Council to achieve that. But the principal condition is that Iraq must comply with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Turkey's principal desire is to see the sanctions against Iraq lifted altogether.
Does rivalry over water resources constitute a threat to long- term relations between Turkey and Arab states, especially Syria and Iraq, both of whom share the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
Syria and Iraq insist on dividing water into three equal shares. This approach does not have a scientific basis and would not be acceptable in similar cases around the world. Can this approach be applied to the Nile basin? The Nile basin has ten riparian countries. How would the Egyptians feel if the other nine riparian states argued that each had the right to one tenth of the Nile water?
Turkey advocates a solution which would be the best means for the three riparian countries of the Euphrates and Tigris. A detailed study should be conducted to determine the inventory of all water resources and the soil of the water basin formed by these two rivers. Based on this inventory, a further study should be undertaken to determine how much water each riparian country needs, and allocation of water should be done accordingly.
What is the Turkish position on the use of NATO military assets by the EU's proposed 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force scheduled to be ready by 2003?
The EU would like to have an emergency force of 60,000 soldiers which they would like to use apart from NATO activity. But the EU would like to use the capabilities of NATO, automatically, when it wishes to act, without involving NATO countries in the planning stage of their operations. This is to say, in practice, the EU could plan to intervene militarily in a region where Turkey had vital interests by using NATO capabilities existing in Turkey, but would not involve Turkey in the planning of this activity. Thus, Turkey, which has not been allowed to make any contributions or present her ideas, would be obliged to provide the EU with NATO facilities.
If EU forces want to get involved in any area where Turkey has an interest, we should also be involved from the very beginning.
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