A role for Turkey France can accept

While Turkey’s interest in joining the "West" as a member of the European Union may be anathema to France, collaboration in the "East" is just fine, according to a top adviser to French President Nicholas Sarkozy.Â

"If we speak of regional [Middle East] prospects, Turkey is a prominent partner for France. President Sarkozy publicly said Turkey has a unique role in the region," Boris Boillon, Sarkozy’s adviser for North African and Middle Eastern affairs, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Boillon’s comments, made during an interview in his Elysee office at the presidential palace in Paris, carried a tone starkly different that those generally offered in connection to Turkey by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other top French officials. On Monday, Pierre Menat, director of EU affairs for the French foreign ministry, told the Daily News that it was time for Turkey to "wake up" and abandon its EU dreams.

But that doesn’t mean France and Turkey can’t be friends and allies outside of the European project. Boillon, who was recently appointed as France’s ambassador to Baghdad, affirmed that the policies of Turkey and France with regard to the Middle East overlap and create a good environment for cooperation.

"We did a lot together during the Gaza crisis. We have valued Turkey’s role a lot," Boillon said. Turkey was active in the region following the Israeli invasion of Gaza in January. "We had constant dialogue with Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was at that time adviser to the prime minister," he said.

Davutoğlu, who was appointed as foreign minister in April, is known for his good ties with Hamas. He shuttled between Damascus and Cairo in January to unite the divided Palestinian groups and contribute to Egypt’s efforts to reach a lasting truce between Israel and Hamas. "His contacts [with Hamas] were very useful," Boillon said.

The relations between Turkey and France have been strained over the last 10 years, first because of Paris’ recognition in 2000 of the alleged Armenian genocide and its efforts to punish any denial of it as such, and second for Sarkozy’s firm opposition to Turkey’s full membership to the EU.

But for many, the disagreement over Turkey’s EU course overshadows the progress in economic, political and cultural relations between the two countries.

France decided to run a nine-month cultural event called "Turkey Season" to promote Turkey in 40 different cities through 400 activities starting July 1. More than 350 French firms have investments in Turkey and the trade volume has recently passed 10 billion euros.

"Turkey is the greatest market in the region, far from all other countries there. Turkey, with its growing and young population, constitutes the best economic partner in its region," Boillon said. "That’s another reason why we have to be in close contact on every issue."

Since Sarkozy’s election as president, France has increased its diplomatic activities in the Middle East. "We think that Turkey and France have many common characteristics: we both tried to convince Syria to have more confident relations with the West and to help Lebanon overcome the presidential crisis," Boillon said, recalling last year’s summit in Damascus in which Sarkozy and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part.

"Turkey has very good relations with Arab countries. It better analyzes the regional developments. We are very satisfied with our relationship with Turkey," said Boillon.

As the next ambassador to Baghdad, Boillon reaffirmed that France and Turkey had common views for the future of Iraq, meaning they were also against the division of the war-torn country. "Iraq is important for us. It is also very important for Turkey as a neighboring country," he said.