Turkish president set for Syria visit in defiance of US pressure
(AFP)12 April 2005
ANKARA - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer begins a two-day visit to neighbouring Syria on Wednesday, overriding pressure from the United States for Ankara to keep its distance from a country, which Washington sees as a threat to the Middle East.
The April 13-14 visit, which has been long in the making, was originally expected to be the latest in a string of routine bilateral contacts between the two neighbours, but took on a different significance with the latest political upheaval in Lebanon.
As the international community issued call after call for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the United States asked Turkey to side with its western allies.
“What can be said on Syria is that the international community is completely unanimous” on a Syrian withdrawal, US ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman, said last month. “We hope Turkey will join the international community.”
Turkey supports a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, but also says it wants to contribute to developing good neighborly ties in the conflict-torn Middle East.
Edelman’s call, which came at a cool period in Turkish-US relations due to differences over Iraq, was largely interpreted as a warning for Sezer to drop plans to visit Damascus, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism.
Sezer announced that he would go ahead with the visit, in a stance that has been hailed by his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
“Turkey denied other countries the opportunity to interfere in its decision. This is the most important side of this visit,” he told Turkey’s CNN-Turk news channel in remarks translated to Turkish.
According to Mustafa Aydin, an international relations expert at Ankara University, strong ties between Turkey and Syria are not against US interests as Washington pursues its campaign for a democratic and transparent Middle East.
“The United States has said it sees Turkey as an example for Middle Eastern countries with its democratic and secular regime. By explaining its progress to Syria, Turkey is actually fulfilling its part as a role model,” Aydin said.
Developments in the Middle East as well as flourishing bilateral ties are expected to dominate Sezer’s talks with Assad and Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otri.
Assad told CNN-Turk that he would discuss with Sezer the role of the United States and European countries in the region, which he said was resembling “the colonial era.”
“We can reduce the dangers to a minimum only if we act together. The dangers are threatening all of us.
“They started with Iraq, now they are threatening Syria and other countries... They are trying to interfere in Turkey’s affairs,” he said.
Turkey and Syria have greatly improved their stormy ties since 1998, when they came to the brink of war over Ankara’s accusations that Damascus was sheltering separatist Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish government.
Tensions eased when Damascus expelled Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and signed a security deal with Ankara, pledging to stop supporting Ocalan’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party, better known as the PKK.
The high point in the improved relationship was a visit visit here of Assad in January last year, the first to Turkey by a Syrian head of state.
“Syria is an extremely important neighbour for Turkey. Ankara wants close contact with Syria in order to keep Kurdish rebels in check and to have a supporter in its policy concerning Iraq,” Aydin said.
Turkey has made increasing overtures to Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq, both neighbors sharing concerns that the post-war Iraq may break up and spark new turmoil in the region.
Despite the improved ties between the two countries, two sticking points remain: the waters of the Euphrates, which has its source in Turkey, and the status of Turkey’s southern Hatay province, formerly Alexandretta, which Syria still claims.