Mavi Boncuk: EU and “ahde vefa” [pacta sunt servanda]

EU and “ahde vefa”

The recommendation adopted by the European Commission on July 15 2009 allows the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia with biometric passports to enter the Schengen area visa-free from January 2010
Mavi Boncuk |

Pacta sunt servanda L./Ahde vefa TR /agreements must be kept ENG., is a basic principle of civil law and of international law.

( EU must explain this part to Turkey)

In its most common sense, the principle refers to private contracts, stressing that contained clauses are law between the parties, and implies that non-fulfilment of respective obligations is a breach of the pact. The general principle of correct behaviour in commercial praxis — and implies the bona fide — is a requirement for the efficacy of the whole system, so the eventual disorder is sometimes punished by the law of some systems even without any direct penalty incurred by any of the parties.

EU Places Early Member Candidates at Head of Line, Snubbing Turkey

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White

The EU lifted visa restrictions Saturday for citizens from Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, even though these are in the early stages of the EU membership process, while not extending this Schengen privilege to Turkey, which began accession talks in 2005 and has opened 11 out of 35 chapters in its membership negotiations. Turkey protested and has asked to be included in the Schengen regime, pointing out that, of the Balkan states affected, only Macedonia has attained the status of EU candidate. Serbia has yet to submit a formal application and its entry has been stalled due to its failure to arrest ex-Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, who has been charged with war crimes in the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo.

Trust in EU drops in Turkey: Survey [ WORLD BULLETIN- TURKEY NEWS, WORLD NEWS ]

Erdoğan comes back to Turkey earlier than expected…

He has to be here as the conspiratorial provocations emerge.

Hürriyet comments on the body language of two leaders. Here are 19 photos to comment.

Turkish Ambassador to US Resigns:

Nabi Sensoy, Turkish Ambassador to the US since 1966, reportedly resigned on Tuesday and asked to be reassigned, three months short of his retirement. No official reason has been given, but Turkish newspapers report that Ambassador Sensoy had been asked by Ankara to forward a request to the White House that the Turkish ambassador also attend the meeting between Prime Minister Erdogan and President Obama, but that Sensoy did not do so. (click here, in Turkish). OR that Sensoy had been asked by Ankara to set up the meeting to also include Ahmet Davutoglu and Hillary Clinton, that the US administration refused this format, and that Davutoglu had blamed Sensoy. (This is all unconfirmed gossip.)

Obama and Erdoğan meeting soon…

As I was not too excited with his election, I am not too disappointed with Obama’s moves on Afghanistan. In fact, I remember he was repeatingly on Afghanistan instead of Iraq. Now PM Erdoğan will be meeting with President Obama. It is reported that Obama wants soldiers from Turkey. The latter does not intend to give any. I hope TR-US relations will go through another bitter period…

“What Obama Should Say to Erdogan”

from Istanbul Calling by Yigal Schleifer

Hugh Pope, the International Crisis Group’s Turkey analyst — who just returned from a two-month fellowship at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington — has a new paper out ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Monday visit to the White House. The paper, published by the Transatlantic Academy, takes a close look at two areas in which Washington has an interest in pushing Ankara along, its normalization process with Armenia and its European Union membership process, and also helpfully unpackages the debate over Turkey’s perceived eastward “drift.”

So Turkey has the OIC conference without al-Bashir

With the relief of al-Bashir not coming- I speculate that gov’t requested him not to come instead of rejecting his visit to save face- OIC summit takes place without much incidence? I guess so. But western media increasingly ask where Turkey heads. OIC summit triggered another wave of op-eds in this line. Turkey is not only making friends with Islamic countries but also other non-Islamic countries. Her foreign policy cannot easily be dubbed as being Islamized as many commentators argue…

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul checks his time as he waits for other leaders at the COMCEC Economic Summit in Istanbul, November 9, 2009. COMCEC is the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Al-Bashir is a test for credibility

by YAVUZ BAYDAR

Conducting foreign policy requires finesse, elegance and sophistication, but most of all, consistency. This is particularly true of a democracy. Falling into double standards, although not always willingly implemented, is one of the characteristics of the community of countries that claim to be sensitive to human rights and violations thereof.

Erdogan’s blind faith in Muslims | Seth Freedman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Kamil Pasha quotes from BBC:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the charges against Mr Bashir and said that “no Muslim could perpetrate a genocide“, according to Turkey’s Anatolia news agency…
PM Erdoğan has such a naive cenception of Islam, I should say..

ANALYSIS: Cancelled Turkey visit by Sudan leader raises questions – Monsters and Critics

Turkey playing with the wolves photo: (!)

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) poses for a group photo with his counterparts Abdullah Gul of Turkey (L) and Bashar al-Assad of Syria (R) during the COMCEC Economic Summit in Istanbul, November 9, 2009. COMCEC is the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkey seems to have officially recognized Iraqi Kurdistan…

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu releases a white pigeon during the opening of the new Turkish Consulate in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad October 31, 2009. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly

Turkey: Time to Rebuild Middle East

by USAK

Source: Turkish Daily Mail
Date: Saturday, 31 October 2009 0:24
Tags: Turkey and Middle East, Middle East, Kurd, Kurdish, Iraq
——————————————————————————–

ARBIL – Turkey extended a regional peace drive to Iraqi Kurds when Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with top Kurdish officials in a landmark visit to Arbil.

“It is time for Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to rebuild the Middle East. Therefore, it is time for everyone to take brave steps,” Davutoglu told a joint press conference with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani late on Friday. Barzani praised Davutoğlu’s visit, saying it is even more significant now as the Middle East is passing through such a sensitive time.
Davutoğlu’s visit to Arbil, the first by a Turkish foreign minister, is a sign that a taboo maintained in Turkish foreign policy until recently is no longer in place.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani (R) holds a joint conference with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, October 30, 2009. Picture taken October 30, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Membership by 2015?

That’s a Foreign Ministry hope or fantasy. I am not too pessimistic about the EU membership process but it is a bit early. Super-slowness is the rule and targetting 2015 is to fasten the process which could disorient all the parties:)

Ah well, while EU membership process is a little peripherialized in the current state of Turkish foreign policy making, still it makes news, still happenings. A huge roundup on related issues:

People gather under The Eiffel Tower, lighted in the colours of Turkey as part of events marking the “Season of Turkey in France”, in Paris October 6, 2009. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Turkish FM: “Turkey seeks EU membership by 2015″

Turkey is counting on joining the European Union by 2015 to bolster both its and the EU’s global role, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Friday. “Even 2015 is too late, not only for us, it will be too late for the EU as well,” Davutoğlu said at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

The Eiffel Tower is seen lighted in the colours of Turkey as part of events marking the ‘Season of Turkey in France’, in Paris October 6, 2009. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Patriot missiles and more on Turkish foreign policy

Patriot issue came out of blue and we will see where it will lead to.. Yigal’s substantive piece and a more provocative link in addition to other issues in Turkish foreign policy..

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks about Turkey’s global priorities to a gathering at Princeton University Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, in Princeton. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Patriot Games

by Yigal Schleifer

There’s a certain feeling of Cold War déjà vu in Turkey these days. Back then, NATO ally Turkey was seen as a front line state in the standoff against a dangerous nuclear power and was even home to American missiles (the intermediate range Jupiters, quietly removed as part of the deal made to end the Cuban missile crisis). Cut to 2009, when western ally Turkey is again being viewed by some as a front-line defense against a (potential) nuclear power — this time around Iran — and might soon be home to an American-made long-range missile defense system.

After Obama

There is of course a huge flow of journalistic production. This is just a small bite. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to collect more links. In the very end, there are also a few links I had collected under the category "americana".

Taking it to the Kids

from Istanbul Calling by Yigal Schleifer

I had the chance yesterday to attend Barack Obama’s town hall meeting with some 100 Turkish university students. The event was broadcast live on Turkish television and seemed to me like another successful public diplomacy effort, particularly in a country where America’s image (or at least that of the American government) had sunk very low. Obama clearly has star power — "I love him!" one young woman told me — but listened carefully to the students’ questions and delivered serious, but down to earth, answers.

Obama and me

A message written by US president Barack Obama in the visitors’ book at the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara. Obama, seeking to boost ties with a key Muslim ally, touted Washington’s strong ties with Turkey Monday and tread carefully on neighbouring Armenia’s decades-old genocide claims.

(AFP/Pool/Hakan Goktepe)

It is always a pity of a news junky like me not to be able to follow a great event properly. Mr. Obama is in town and it is no doubt that this is a historical moment and signifies the rightness of new Turkish foreign policy moves.

By this Sunday evening (12 April) my civilian lifes ends. By April 10, I will learn how long I will be in the army and where I will be stationed.

In the remaining days, I have to deal with tons of technicalities in addition to finishing up grading and extra classes.

Right at this moment, Tuesday morning before my 1^st year course lecture, I have to thank Anthony Potoczniak, my dear friend from the department, who had sent me an email and told me that he will take care of my dissertation submission process. That has been a growing concern for me. I had to submit the hard copy of my dissertation to Graduate Office along with a series of formalities and right now I have this great relief that it can be done. Thank you very much Anthony!

As Taraf headlined stated yesterday Obama could win the elections in Turkey, too. Turks like him at many levels. One is certainly pragmatic. His visit means the real warming up of relations between Turkey and US. We had that tension since the beginning of Iraq War and now that we can be allies again:) It seems that like Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama receives popular sympathy while Mr. Bush could not get any.

In the mean time, I have to deal with technicalities in my last days and I am really sad that I cannot follow this event properly…

For the news roundup: 

Turkish Digest

TurcoPundit

As Mr. Obama comes to town…

 Yuvakuran collects nearly all pieces on Turkey-US relations. Check out this blog for the latest…

Talking to Turkey, but Islam is listening

Mr. Obama and Turkey