New Turkish foreign policy with Davutoğlu

No one has asked me about my opinions regarding the Education or Transportation ministries for instance. But I was asked questions about newly appointed Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

First of all, let me tell you that I was not surprised at all by his appointment even though he is the only minister appointed from outside Parliament. Moreover, as speculations continued for possible changes among ministers, I had said to my close circles that we should expect to see Davutoğlu as the new foreign minister and this would be something quite natural.

During the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Davutoğlu has become a shining star in Turkish foreign politics so much that it is known that he is the "only influential person" over President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Davutoğlu’s "high profile" has always reminded me of the situation between National Security Chief Adviser Henry Kissinger and State Secretary William Rogers of the late U.S. President Richard Nixon’s period in the United States. Eventually, Rogers left his seat to Kissinger. Since then, no one remembers "Rusk," but all know Kissinger.

So Davutoğlu had to be the foreign minister sooner or later, and that has happened.

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If seeking some kind of parallelism between Davutoğlu and Kissinger, one can say that both have academic backgrounds and both are hooked on "strategy."

In this sense, Davutoğlu in general Ğ with the exception of the late Professor Fuat Köprülü in Turkish tradition, whose area of interest was not international affairs Ğ is an unusual kind.

For this reason, one may want to dwell upon remarks of Deniz Zeyrek, who said, "A name who indulged himself in orchestration behind the curtain but had never had the pleasure of being a decision-maker," that were published the other day in Radikal daily. But if Davutoğlu’s creative personality in finding solutions to issues that are never seen in most of career diplomats is considered, this is enough to say that he will make a successful foreign minister.

Davutoğlu indeed put his mark on every single recent success story of the Erdoğan government in Turkish foreign politics. And he has done it as an "invisible man." Results of what he has done so far, on the other hand, are very visible and have huge repercussions in the international arena.

We better wait and see if he would be have similar results as he sits as foreign minister, but clues that he would be successful are plenty.

Davutoğlu’s bright track record is rather about his performance in the Middle East. That is why Tuesday’s headlines were like "New Direction is the Middle East" for Turkish foreign politics. Starting from this, different views were voiced that the European Union accession process may be harmed as a result.

I know Davutoğlu’s not-renowned times. We attended a few television programs and panels together, and our perspectives had coincided in many subjects.

And in the last year, we attended two panels, one in Austria and the other at Brookings Institute in Washington. The panel was held at the Kreisky Center in Austria. I witnessed that Davutoğlu brilliantly defended the thesis "Turkey may be European in Europe, Middle Eastern in the Middle East and Caucasian in the Caucasus," setting out from Turkey’s unique identity and the Ottoman past.

Meaning?

Well, the meaning is, it may not be correct to think that Davutoğlu’s effective performance in the Middle East may harm the EU process negatively.

However, Davutoğlu should pay special attention to the Middle East, but this should be because it needs to be so. The reason is that the Middle East is the most problematic region in the world, and it is also an area where Turkey can have solid results in a way to be impressive in the international community. Moreover, the Middle East is the region that would be the backbone of Turkish-American relations during the President Barack Obama period in order to build rock-solid relations between Turkey and the U.S. At this point, it is necessary to note Davutoğlu’s "know-how" is a "plus" for Turkey.

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Although Davutoğlu is known as a "strategist," results of the strategy in his mind are not known yet. I am of the opinion that his being a "really good tactician" is Davutoğlu’s most important and valuable quality. I wouldn’t know how much he is aware of it, but his "tactical moves" in the Middle East have become Turkey’s "gains." Speaking of tactics, he can make mistakes possibly. But what is destructive is a "strategic mistake," not a tactical one. Tactical mistakes can be corrected.

Davutoğlu made tactical mistakes in the Middle East issue. But there were corrected by conditions and himself. A series of tactical mistakes made during and after the Iraq War didn’t seem like a "chain of mistakes" owing to Davutoğlu’s corrections and Turkey’s adaptation to the conditions slowly. On the contrary, the public opinion read them as "Turkey was following the right political path in the Middle East."

What they were, is the subject of another article. However, Davutoğlu’s "zero problems with neighbors" policy is the right one. Besides, Turkey’s "soft power" approach toward the Middle East has increased its role and influence both in the region and the international arena.

In conclusion, it is impossible to say now about Davutoğlu’s performance as an "executive" in the Foreign Ministry and his successes or failures in the area. But as a "mastermind of politics," Foreign Minister Davutoğlu will be quite successful. I have no doubts about that.

I hereby wish him success as the new foreign minister of Turkey.