Man who can bring Hamas to peace table
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Mustafa Akyol
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 24, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The stance taken by one of the governing party’s chief foreign policy advisers, that Palestinian Hamas should be engaged rather than treated as a pariah, has produced as many supporters as it has detractors.
Seen as the main architect of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, pro-active foreign policy abroad, Ahmet Davutoğlu is also a close associate and the top foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Before he was appointed as Erdoğan’s foreign policy adviser in early 2003, Davutoğlu was an academic who produced books including "The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory." His 2001 volume, "Strategic Depth" was an ambitious work that propagated a much more pro-active and creative foreign policy for Turkey.
Since his appointment, Davutoğlu has been a large influence on the AKP. Shortly after the party came to power in 2002, Turkey’s foreign policy of aloof detachment from the Middle East was replaced by efforts to resolve the constant wrangling with neighbors and to engage in regional issues.
Once he became Erdoğan’s foreign policy maestro, Davutoğlu found a chance to realize some of his theories. As he explained last Tuesday to a small group of Turkish journalists, Turkey is a country that has to pursue "an integrated foreign policy" and cannot have "a foreign policy of priorities."
This meant that Turkey would not have to choose between East and West, the EU and the Middle East. All these different areas would instead be covered in a simultaneous and even mutually enhancing fashion.
With this vision, the government changed Turkey’s conventional positions on a variety of fronts: a more "pro-solution" attitude was taken in Cyprus; relations with Greece, Bulgaria, Syria and Iran improved; the habitual hostility toward Iraqi Kurds turned into dialogue and cooperation. Even a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement started with President Gül’s visit to Yerevan last September. And, to the world’s surprise, Turkey became a negotiator between Syria and Israel.
Engaging Hamas
While European nations, and more importantly the United States, refuse to talk to Hamas until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts interim peace deals signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Turkish government wants the group to be engaged and included in ongoing negotiations.
The Damascus-based leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, appeared on Arab satellite TV last Wednesday and declared their "victory." Yet he also urged the West to reach out to his party. "I tell European nations, now is the time to start talking to Hamas," he said. Hamas leaders have announced they are willing to accept a "hudna" (truce) for a decade or more, if Israel ends the occupation of Palestine by retreating to its pre-1967 borders. Some hope that with some encouragement, and some diplomatic "carrots," this "hudna" idea can be the opening to breaking Hamas’ rejectionist vein and integrate it into the peace process.
Davutoğlu’s first move toward Hamas came right after Hamas’ election victory in Gaza in January 2006. Khaled Meshaal visited Ankara to meet the then Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül. Israel "condemned" the visit and Washington criticized it strongly. To make matters worse, Hamas did not give any hint of being persuaded by Turkey’s advice of moderation. It was an unsuccessful effort.
Yet Davutoğlu took the stage once again when Israel started bombing Gaza on Dec 27. Just a week before, he warned The Washington Post’s David Ignatius on the "explosive" situation. When things really exploded, he boarded a plane with his team, to dash from one Middle Eastern capital to another, in order to secure a cease-fire.
When Israel declared its unilateral cease-fire on Jan. 17, Davutoğlu took great pains to persuade Hamas to do the same, which it did the next day.
"Talking to Hamas is complicated," said Davutoğlu. "You can’t just come to an agreement with their leader and assume that is it. He then needs to negotiate with all the internal factions in his organization. Sometimes he can convince them, sometimes he can’t." He also said the Islamic group was still more of a resistance organization. "But they are starting to learn about diplomacy, the art of achieving goals by making concessions."
"Right there, Turkey can play a crucial role here," said Bülent Aras, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Işık University. "In fact, now Turkey’s biggest possible contribution to solving this conflict is its ability to talk to and be trusted by Hamas."
Some Turkish foreign policy experts criticize Davutoğlu’s strategy. They argue that this actually pushes Turkey to appear on the same team as Iran and Syria. Kadri Gürsel, the foreign news editor of daily Milliyet, thinks that way and said Davutoğlu’s work only helps the "Middle Easternization" of Turkey. "It is not a success to win Hamas’ trust," he said, "Hamas is willing to talk to anyone just to gain legitimacy." Davutoğlu is eager to help solve the Arab-Israel conflict because this fits into his vision of a more active Turkey and he also feels an emotional commitment at the same time.
Before he was appointed as Erdoğan’s foreign policy adviser in early 2003, Davutoğlu was an academic who produced books including "The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory." His 2001 volume, "Strategic Depth" was an ambitious work that propagated a much more pro-active and creative foreign policy for Turkey.
Since his appointment, Davutoğlu has been a large influence on the AKP. Shortly after the party came to power in 2002, Turkey’s foreign policy of aloof detachment from the Middle East was replaced by efforts to resolve the constant wrangling with neighbors and to engage in regional issues.
Once he became Erdoğan’s foreign policy maestro, Davutoğlu found a chance to realize some of his theories. As he explained last Tuesday to a small group of Turkish journalists, Turkey is a country that has to pursue "an integrated foreign policy" and cannot have "a foreign policy of priorities."
This meant that Turkey would not have to choose between East and West, the EU and the Middle East. All these different areas would instead be covered in a simultaneous and even mutually enhancing fashion.
With this vision, the government changed Turkey’s conventional positions on a variety of fronts: a more "pro-solution" attitude was taken in Cyprus; relations with Greece, Bulgaria, Syria and Iran improved; the habitual hostility toward Iraqi Kurds turned into dialogue and cooperation. Even a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement started with President Gül’s visit to Yerevan last September. And, to the world’s surprise, Turkey became a negotiator between Syria and Israel.
Engaging Hamas
While European nations, and more importantly the United States, refuse to talk to Hamas until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts interim peace deals signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Turkish government wants the group to be engaged and included in ongoing negotiations.
The Damascus-based leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, appeared on Arab satellite TV last Wednesday and declared their "victory." Yet he also urged the West to reach out to his party. "I tell European nations, now is the time to start talking to Hamas," he said. Hamas leaders have announced they are willing to accept a "hudna" (truce) for a decade or more, if Israel ends the occupation of Palestine by retreating to its pre-1967 borders. Some hope that with some encouragement, and some diplomatic "carrots," this "hudna" idea can be the opening to breaking Hamas’ rejectionist vein and integrate it into the peace process.
Davutoğlu’s first move toward Hamas came right after Hamas’ election victory in Gaza in January 2006. Khaled Meshaal visited Ankara to meet the then Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül. Israel "condemned" the visit and Washington criticized it strongly. To make matters worse, Hamas did not give any hint of being persuaded by Turkey’s advice of moderation. It was an unsuccessful effort.
Yet Davutoğlu took the stage once again when Israel started bombing Gaza on Dec 27. Just a week before, he warned The Washington Post’s David Ignatius on the "explosive" situation. When things really exploded, he boarded a plane with his team, to dash from one Middle Eastern capital to another, in order to secure a cease-fire.
When Israel declared its unilateral cease-fire on Jan. 17, Davutoğlu took great pains to persuade Hamas to do the same, which it did the next day.
"Talking to Hamas is complicated," said Davutoğlu. "You can’t just come to an agreement with their leader and assume that is it. He then needs to negotiate with all the internal factions in his organization. Sometimes he can convince them, sometimes he can’t." He also said the Islamic group was still more of a resistance organization. "But they are starting to learn about diplomacy, the art of achieving goals by making concessions."
"Right there, Turkey can play a crucial role here," said Bülent Aras, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Işık University. "In fact, now Turkey’s biggest possible contribution to solving this conflict is its ability to talk to and be trusted by Hamas."
Some Turkish foreign policy experts criticize Davutoğlu’s strategy. They argue that this actually pushes Turkey to appear on the same team as Iran and Syria. Kadri Gürsel, the foreign news editor of daily Milliyet, thinks that way and said Davutoğlu’s work only helps the "Middle Easternization" of Turkey. "It is not a success to win Hamas’ trust," he said, "Hamas is willing to talk to anyone just to gain legitimacy." Davutoğlu is eager to help solve the Arab-Israel conflict because this fits into his vision of a more active Turkey and he also feels an emotional commitment at the same time.