Tufan Turenc: AKP's foot-under-the-table foreign policy strategy
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Temmuz 05, 2006 11:25
So, did you read the other day in Yener Susoy's report how exactly it is that Turkey's foreign policy is being handled? In an interview with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Susoy asks "Do you sometimes warn the Prime Minister not to get angry?" Gul's response puts the gravity of Turkey's foreign policy situation front and center: "I always warn him. When we are having meetings with foreigners, I sometimes even use my hand and feet to signal him. For example, at the meeting in Brussels on December 17, I kept on stepping on his feet under the table."
Just think, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic, stomping down on eachothers' feet under the table at an EU meeting. And we are talking about official meetings.
Once, when Prime Minister Erdogan didn't like what French President Jacques Chirac was saying, he yelled out "Hop hop!" I guess Gul hadn't been able to step on his feet in time. In any case, Chirac wondered what "hop hop!" meant, and insisted that his translator tell him. When he found out, he was angry. Even President George W. Bush has been driven crazy by the AKP view of foreign policy tradition. "These guys speak like horse sellers at one of our Texas markets," he said.
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What I wonder is this: how do our own diplomats deal with this Kasimpasa (the area of Istanbul Erdogan is from, known for its rough language and behavior) style? It probably makes most of them desperate.
A little while back, our Ambassador to Washington, Nabi Sensoy, warned the Americans: "Kurdish groups in Iraq are giving weapons and logistical support to the PKK." A little later in Ankara, the Kurdish foreign minister from Iraq is asked to bring 150 specifically named PKK militants under control. He says "We have given orders for what you want. But this is difficult business, because we are not in control in every region of the country." What this really means of course is "Hey man, we can't catch these guys."
So what you see here is that if you run your foreign policy using hand and foot motions, you will have no effect over your neighbors, or even your region.
Once, when Prime Minister Erdogan didn't like what French President Jacques Chirac was saying, he yelled out "Hop hop!" I guess Gul hadn't been able to step on his feet in time. In any case, Chirac wondered what "hop hop!" meant, and insisted that his translator tell him. When he found out, he was angry. Even President George W. Bush has been driven crazy by the AKP view of foreign policy tradition. "These guys speak like horse sellers at one of our Texas markets," he said.
*****
What I wonder is this: how do our own diplomats deal with this Kasimpasa (the area of Istanbul Erdogan is from, known for its rough language and behavior) style? It probably makes most of them desperate.
A little while back, our Ambassador to Washington, Nabi Sensoy, warned the Americans: "Kurdish groups in Iraq are giving weapons and logistical support to the PKK." A little later in Ankara, the Kurdish foreign minister from Iraq is asked to bring 150 specifically named PKK militants under control. He says "We have given orders for what you want. But this is difficult business, because we are not in control in every region of the country." What this really means of course is "Hey man, we can't catch these guys."
So what you see here is that if you run your foreign policy using hand and foot motions, you will have no effect over your neighbors, or even your region.