The Agonist - Turkey

"The Neocon dream of Turko-Israeli regional military-economic cooperation sphere is now in tatters"

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:40:36 -0800

My friend Chuck Spinney writes in from Turkey this morning riffing off a recent op-ed in the Times. I can't quibble with what either of them have to say. Chuck says:

As someone who has lived in Turkey for most of the last two years, I have watched the development of her foreign policy with great interest, not to mention a good deal of confusion.

It is hard to make sense out this rapidly-emerging, vibrant country of 70 million, increasingly well-educated, industrious people. While its remote interior is still very traditional, Turkey's coastal regions are already beginning to blossom into an outward looking, modern multinational consumer society, and the effects of rising incomes and education are very visible. In the coastal regions, I would say that living standards are now higher than those of Portugal, about the same as those of Greece, and somewhat lower than those of Spain. To be sure, the interior is poorer, especially as one travels east, but even in the east, there is growing modernity. Everywhere, markets are chock a block with high-quality healthy food and vast quantities middle income consumer goods, and there is fresh water galore, especially in the coastal regions.

The attached op-ed by Patrick Seale is a good summary that brings clarity to much of what is going on with Turkey's foreign policy and is well worth reading.

But there is more. Not mentioned are Turkey's bilateral overtures to Russia, Georgia, the Ukraine, and the various Turkic countries in great swath of Central Asia (including the Uighurs in NW China), as well as a bewildering variety of multilateral environmental and economic initiatives in the Black Sea region (involving Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Greece, and Turkey). On a personal level, when talking to individual Turks, I have sensed occasionally some faint echoes of a revival of the kinship links which once connected the cosmopolitan inhabitants around the Black Sea littoral (Turks marrying Ukranians and Russians, Turkish Tatars reconnecting with distant relatives in the Crimea or Kuban, Turkish Las east of Trabzon connecting to Georgians, etc.)

Much of this dynamism is definitely due to the proactive leadership of Prime Minister Edogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu in the sense described by Seale, but part of the impetus, I think, also comes from Turkey being sucked willy-nilly into the power vacuum that arose suddenly with collapse of the Soviet Union, and then was deepened more recently by the escalation of US bungling in the Middle East and Central Asia (especially wrt Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan,and Syria). The interplay of chance and necessity is now shaping unfolding events in an unpredictable way.

What this political/social evolution means for the Greater Middle East as well as relationships among Turkey, the EU, and the US is unknowable at this point in time, but we may be witnessing the beginning of what may turn out to be one of the most important geopolitical realignments of the 21st Century.

One this is clear, however: The Neocon dream of Turko-Israeli regional military-economic cooperation sphere is now in tatters. How Israel adapts to these changes and how Israel attempts to use its pernicious lobbying influence in the US to shape our response to these changes is likely to be one the great strategic headaches for President Obama and his successors for the foreseeable future.

Here's a link to the Times op-ed.

Armenia, Turkey Hit Glitch in Agreement to Build Diplomatic Ties

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:56:15 -0700

Mary Beth Sheridan | Zurich | October 10

WaPo - Senior Armenian and Turkish officials traveled to Switzerland on Saturday to sign an agreement that could set them on a course to end a century of hostility stemming from brutal massacres at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

But just as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's motorcade arrived at the University of Zurich for the signing of the accord, she got word of a last-minute glitch. The motorcade reversed and sped to a hotel, where U.S. diplomats tried to satisfy concerns on the Armenian side over language in the two countries' statements.

The accord was quietly brokered by the Swiss over the past two years, with the help of French, Russian and U.S. officials. Clinton has been in frequent contact with the two sides in recent weeks to help seal the deal.

The agreement still must be approved by the two countries' parliaments, where it is likely to face opposition from nationalists.

Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia have had bitter relations since an outbreak of violence in 1915 that ultimately left hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians dead. Many historians call the killings genocide, but Turkey strongly rejects that label, saying people died in forced relocations and fighting.

If ratified, the accord could have implications well beyond Turkey and Armenia. It may ease tensions in other parts of southeastern Europe and help with the establishment of oil pipelines to the West, officials said.

"It's a huge step. It's a historic breakthrough," said David Phillips, a scholar at American University who has worked on the dispute.

Turkey, Armenia to sign peace agreement

CNN, By Jill Dougherty, October 10

Istanbul -- The historic Saturday signing of an agreement normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia was delayed when the Armenian delegation objected to the wording of an oral statement.

"We are facilitating the two sides in coming to an agreement on the statements that they're going to make at the ceremony," U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

He didn't indicate what Armenia's problem with the wording was.

The statement was to be delivered after the signing in Zurich. Officials said the signing is apparently not jeopardized by the holdup.

The agreement would normalize relations between the countries after nearly a century of animosity.

White House Reacts To Sibel Edmonds, Asks Congress To Sell Nuclear Secrets To Turkey

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:27:17 -0700

Originally posted Jan 15, 2008. Recent updates below in the comments ~ editors

A savvy blogger over at DailyKos has discovered an announcement by the Bush Administration, which appears to be pressuring Congress to retroactively approve the sale of nuclear secrets to Turkey.

hmmm...

Siebel Edmonds leaked her story to the UK Times two weeks ago, despite a court order. It was filled with tales of American diplomats acting in a treasonous manner by selling secretes to Turkey. If Bush gets the legislation he wants, then the treason will be authorized, and everything is hunky dory.

Naturally, this is all a bit fishy... and I hope those who broke the law for profit get punished severely. However, I can't find myself being too worried about Turkey having nukes. Geopolitically speaking, Bush may have fallen ass-backwards into something that could stabilize the middle east, and improve the US standing amongst Muslims.

Firstly, Turkey is probably the most modern, secular, and stable Muslim republic around. Besides human rights abuses, problems with the Kurds, and nationalistic rumblings, they're the top of the pile.

Second, a nuclear powered Turkey could redirect this nationalism away from violent extremism, and in the more positive direction of making Turkey a member of the "nuclear club." Very, very few countries at that table, and they all command respect. That usually satisfies the hurt egos that feed nationalism.

Third, its an interesting military barrier. Europe doesn't want Turkey in the EU because of the flood of Muslims through Turkey's porous borders. This could be a kick in the pants that would force Turkey to secure their borders. Also, a nuclear Turkey might be more willing to wait for full EU membership.

Fourth, all "clash of civilizations" stuff aside, this could make Turkey THE go-to guy when there's secular problems in the Muslim world. It reduces the influence of Iran, while not trying to step on the toes of religious countries like Saudi Arabia. Turkey could be a universally accepted half-way-point between the west and the mid east.

Of course, I'm no expert in Turkish history, or the Middle East... but I see some silver lining here... if and only if we have somebody competent running our foreign policy.

Turkey, Armenia move to boost ties

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:58:27 -0700

September 1

Al Jazeera - Turkey and Armenia are at the beginning of a "long process" of normalising ties, the Turkish foreign minister has said.

Ahmet Davutoglu's comments on Tuesday came a day after the feuding neighbours agreed to establish relations and reopen their border under a plan to end nearly a century of hostility.

Davutoglu told Turkey's NTV television that the process would be long but that obstacles could be overcome and that the border could be open by the end of the year.

"If everything goes as planned, if mutual steps are taken, the borders could be opened around New Year," he said.

Azeris baffled by Turkmen legal threat

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:09:34 -0700

Kenan Guluzade | Baku | Aug 19

Asia Times - Political experts are baffled by a Turkmen announcement that it will take Azerbaijan to court over their maritime boundary, saying the decision does not seem to make political, business or legal sense.

European plans to diversify gas supply, by building the Nabucco pipeline from the Caspian region to Austria, could be under threat from the unexpected Turkmen claim, which would disrupt development of Caspian oil and gas fields and interrupt two years of improving relations between Baku and Ashgabat.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov said just a month ago his country was keen to join the Nabucco project, but the legal challenge could harm the route by blocking production from fields on or near the Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan maritime border.

The Czar Makes Up With the Sultan Analysis

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:55:37 -0700

Hilmi Toros | Istanbul | Aug 12

IPS - Once the worst of enemies, involved in 12 wars in three centuries, Turkey and Russia have suddenly become the best of friends, forging strong bonds that could be a counterpoint to the European Union if it freezes Turkey out of full membership.

The countries call their ties "multi-dimensional co-operation," somewhat short of a "strategic partnership", but that too may be in the offing.

On an eight-hour visit to Turkish capital Ankara last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed 20 deals with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. These are mostly commercial contracts in energy, collectively worth some 40 billion dollars.

The two leaders also declared that rival gas pipelines Nabucco and South Stream to bring natural gas to European markets would be "complimentary" rather than "conflicting".

In the end, conflicting or complimentary, if both projects are realised, Russia and Turkey would play a major role in meeting Europe's growing gas needs. For Europe, either an unfriendly Turkey or Russia would endanger energy security - and it would be much worse if both were ever to gang up on the EU together.

Nabucco, the 7.9 billion euro project backed by the EU and the United States, would bypass Russia in bringing gas from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iraq and potentially also from Iran to Europe via Turkey. It is due to be operational by 2014.

The Russian proposed South Stream, to become operational by 2016, would carry gas from Russia to Europe through Turkey's territorial waters in the Black Sea and onward to Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Austria. Its objective is to bypass Ukraine, currently the conduit for 80 percent of Russian gas pumped to Europe.

'Defenders of Ataturk' on trial for plotting to overthrow government

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:11:23 -0700

Nicholas Birch | Istanbul | July 21

The Independent - In a case described as the most important in Turkey's history, two retired four-star generals went on trial yesterday at a high-security court outside Istanbul, charged with trying to overthrow the government.

For some, the arrest of the highest-ranking officers in Turkey's 63-year history of multi-party democracy is a critical blow against a once-untouchable military that has toppled four elected governments since 1960.

For others, the charges are an invention of the ruling AKP party to weaken the secular army and open the way for the country's Islamisation

There are 56 defendants in the case, including journalists, university rectors and businessmen. Outside the courtroom in Silivri, hundreds of their supporters waved national flags and portraits of Ataturk, the secularist founder of modern Turkey. "The patriots are in prison," they chanted.

• A trial that will define Turkey

2009 Istanbul Photo Contest

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:56:54 -0700

I'm not going to get all misty eyed here. I'll just simply announce that the Istanbul 2009 Photo Contest is now accepting submissions. This year's theme is right up my alley and I'm considering making a few submissions of my own. From the site:

The main target of this contest is; living Istanbul with its historical and touristical locations by focusing on the historical city walls including mosques, museums, bridges, towers, churches, synagogues, sufi lodge, cisterns, palaces, people, cats, parks, fountains, baths, grand bazaar, spice market, shopping centers, authentic Turkish cuisine, boutique hotels, handcrafts and shops, artists, carpet sellers , 24 hours living streets etc.

Feel free to head over to my Istanbul Flickr gallery and make suggestions.

Turkey mourns a secular saint

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:48:08 -0700

Fazile Zahir | Fethiye, Turkey | June 4

Asia Times -
The funeral of women's rights champion and avowed secularist Turkan Saylan, who helped thousands of Turkey's most underprivileged girls access education, was packed with mourners.

Conspicuously absent were members of the Islamist ruling party, who have been lambasted for ordering a demeaning investigation into Saylan's charity while she was on her death bed. Continued after the jump

• Battle Between Pro-Secular and Islamic Government Continues in Turkey

Turkey hasn't seen a woman's funeral like it since feminist hero Duygu Asena was laid to rest in 2006. Women of all shapes and sizes, colors and backgrounds, head-scarved and bare-headed filled the streets of Sisli, Istanbul on May 19, before packing like sardines the traditionally male-only areas of the Tesvikiye mosque.

They wept together, disparate people united in their grief at the passing of avowed secularist Professor Turkan Saylan. As at Asena's funeral, old taboos were broken when almost every sentence delivered by Imam Ihsan Ozkes was vigorously applauded.

Lauded all over the nation for her part in supporting and funding the education of girls and women from Turkey's most underprivileged families, her efforts were celebrated at the memorial service. "Turkan Saylan worked her whole life to reduce other people's burdens, to advance them and enrich them", Deniz Baykal, the leader of the opposition, said in his speech. "Her name deserves to always be remembered with respect in every country. That she grew up here is a source of pride for all of us."

Former prime minister Mesut Yilmaz echoed his words, "I've never seen such a large crowd in the courtyard of a mosque, she will always be remembered not just for her work in the field of education but as a defender of the [Turkish] republic."

Notable by their conspicuous absence were any members of the current government. Had they attended, they would have faced hostility and perhaps violence - they have been accused of hastening the beloved professor's death.

It was events in April, instigated by the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party, that ensured her funeral had the flavor of a political rally.

After suffering from breast cancer for over five years, and being hospitalized for most of 2009, in the second week of April Saylan received permission from her doctors to spend a weekend at home after a debilitating bout of chemotherapy. Government agents and police chose that weekend to raid the offices and homes of her charity, Cagdas Yasam Destekleme Dernegi (CYDD) - meaning Modern Life Support Association - which has provided educational scholarships to over 36,000 girls since 1989.

As the frail 73-year-old lay sick in her bed, she watched as her mementos and papers were trashed and taken away by police over allegations she was involved in the extreme right-wing Ergenekon coup plot. Her colleagues were put under surveillance and files removed from over 17 offices without warning or the chance to copy documents vital for scholarships.

The charity estimates that 550 girls were unable to get their scholarships as a result. Saylan issued a statement on the website www.cydd.org.tr stating that the organization's aims had always been transparent and that she supported neither a military coup or sharia (Islamic) law, but the secular ideals of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

She used the media to criticize the government's behavior, calling it unjustified and illegal. Coming from a charismatic woman her words were made all the more poignant by her obviously failing health.

The public and the media were outraged that a woman known for her charitable work - who discriminated against no one on the basis of religion or politics - should be subject to this humiliation while so obviously close to death.

It is unclear if the accusations leveled at her crushed her spirit, but it is certain they tainted her last month spent alive. Her supporters have demanded an apology from the government and "Turkey is secular and will stay secular" was chanted in the streets at her funeral.

"The Balkan Ekspres"

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:33:34 -0700

Took the train from Istanbul to Bucharest last night. It was a fun train ride. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

İstanbul bana aşık, ben İstanbula aşığım!

Sun, 31 May 2009 08:33:41 -0700

I knew tearing myself away from this city was going to be difficult, but I had no idea I would spend my last full afternoon in a terrible state of what the Turks might call, "hüzün." If I did not have to be in Denmark in mid-June I would not leave. Soon I'll head down to the train station and have a last uskumru sandwich and watch ferries dance across the Bosporus.

I arrived on April 1, 2009 and in the blink of an eye this magical city has wooed me, wowed me, saddened me beyond measure and lifted me to the highest of heights. I will look back on this time just as I do Lake Toba, but for altogether different reasons. Toba was about disconnecting from the world in a way I'd not done in years. It was an escape, an idyll, an exotic dreamscape of guitars, new friends, peace and the warm waters of the lake I bathed in each morning. Toba was a place for me to bury the past, the obligations of home and family and in their place plant seeds that would, I hoped, spring up into a new life.

More after the jump.

Istanbul has been about that second spring. It is an altogether appropriate metaphor, right and good. When I arrived it was cold, overcast and only the first, most tenuous buds of green sprouted from the trees. The flowers only just pushing up from their winter sleep. I was wiped out from the chaos of India but it was much more than India on my mind. What Istanbul took away in 2007, it gave it all back and more in 2009.

Three things happened in Istanbul that leave me grateful beyond measure. The grieving process of my failed marriage ended. And in that I realized the second thing: as much as I am a solitary creature I learned that although I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life alone it was only an impulse, a defense. I crawled into a cave, like a bear after a grievous fight, there to heal my wounds. The wounds healed and the bear walked out of the cave to catch salmon in a spring brook, to revel in the world, the glory of the light, the green trees and the cold rushing mountain waters. In a sense I would say that my faith was restored, for faith is not to be underestimated.

Finally, as this most perfect of Istanbul days draws to a close and my thoughts race forward to the train station, crowds, a new language, new places and sights, I am grateful for the simple joy of falling in love with such an amazing city. I believe it was Jan Morris who said, "I have loved places like people, and they have become me."

The good, the bad and the indifferent. All of it. I'll trade it, any day, for diamonds, gold, lovers, money, career, fame, position or power. Will I return? I certainly hope so. Will I ever live here? I plan on it. But for now I have a journey to complete. There are a few loose ends that need a twisting up and a sewing shut.

It is a fitting consolation, no matter what transpires, that I can say, where ever I go, "Ben İstanbulluyum!"

"I am an İstanbullu."

My talisman, my secret chant, my incantation.

"Ben İstanbulluyum!"

Scribbles from the Aegean

Sat, 30 May 2009 11:22:23 -0700

From my travel journal:

May 26, 2009: We left İstanbul at noon. Navigating İstanbul traffic from Sultanhamet to the Yenikapi ferry port wasn't too hard. Getting the ferry ticket and embarking was a cinch. The ferry to Yalova took about an hour. Amanda and I listened to the music on her iPod as the wine-dark waters of the Marmara skimmed beneath us. We disembarked, gassed up and sped off into the Bithynian hills. We stopped for lunch along Ulubat Golu, a pretty lake just west of Bursa. Watched a young family play futbol along the shores and shared an Iskender kebab. Lots of tea, as always! We stopped at a pastanesi--sweet shop--about 3/5ths of the way to Izmir. Honey and pistachios. How can one go wrong?

We drove up into a set of low, lumbering gray rocks and olive mountains. We made the pass and there before us shimmering silvery and blue lay the crescent harbor of Izmir. The windows were down, the breeze strong, smelling of olives and the sun was warm. A retelling of Romeo and Juliet by the Decembrists trilled on the radio. I navigated the streets of Izmir and got us on the road to Selçuk. I don't know how. But I did. "Follow the signs," I kept saying aloud. Outside Izmir the hills grew stepper and more arid. It was all very Greek. A sharper contrast to the smooth pastels of Bithynia and Lydia. Orange groves and apricot orchards proliferated. Olive trees were all encompassing. Farmers doddered home in horse-drawn carts piled high with peasant women and produce.

We drove through Selçuk, a lazy village in a narrow valley. I sniffed a hint of salt spray in the air mingling with the oranges. We arrived on the beach at Pamucak just before sunset, falling below a low bank of hills across the Aegean, but not before burning out in a pyrotechnic display seldom equalled, all oranges, fiery crimson, raging pink and then the soft amber hues of early night.

May 27, 2009: Did nothing but sit under a warm Aegean sun today. Listened to Jame McMurtry: "I looked out the window and saw too much." I can relate. But I see what I see and live to see it. Nothing else really matters anymore. Three Kangal shepherd dogs amble along the beach, barking up a ruckus, white splotches against a sapphire sea. Another sunset: coral blue waters, old sun dripping into the sea. Two in a row.

May 28, 2009: Woke up at 800am. Showered. Journaled til 930am. Had breakfast then drove to Ephesus. What a site! It was big. Quite possibly the largest classical site I've ever seen. It was really huge, sprawling. The only one bigger that I can think of is Persepolis, but that's not Greek or Roman--it's Achaemenid Persian. Athens? Nope, not even close. And I haven't been to Pompeii so I can't say. Although I have seen Roman ruins now from Hardian's Wall in England to Ephesus. Good thing I can still read and decipher Latin inscriptions. Who knew that would come in handy?

After Ephesus we drove to Şirince, a former Greek village de- and then repopulated after the settlement of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922-3.

The Turks have taken good care of the agricultural land they got in exchange for Thessalonica. All rocky hills, olive groves. Apricot trees. Plums. Vegetable gardens snug against white washed houses two-stepping up the mountains. I hate to use this word, the bane of all writers, but the village was 'quaint.'

Amanda twirled the blackberry wine in the afternoon sun, furrowing her brow, head under a baseball cap. Olive trees ran up the steep hills. Someone snapped seabeans softly behind her. She narrowed her almond eyes pondering some archeological concept and blurted, "abandonment!" Pointing at a dilapidated house behind and below me. I twisted around and nodded. But she'd already moved on.

"Reuse," she said. Her dimpled cheeks smiling. I looked at the tiles and nodded.

"So, what did you see at Ephesus?" I asked, rising to the bait.

"It was abandoned quickly," she said. "But I know so little of the Old World, you know? I'm a New World archeologist. What do the books tell you?"

"There was a serious crisis here in the 7th and 8th centuries," I said.

"First, came the last Persian War. The Persians devastated Asia minor. Disrupting imperial trade networks. Looted and destroyed cities. Clive Foss, a late-classical historian wrote about it in an interesting 'scholarly paper,'I read a while back" I said, fingering scare quotes in the air.

Foss wrote: "When information again become available (after the Persian invasion) all had changed. The cities had for the most part disappeared. And the country was dotted with castles and small towns."

I continued talking: "Anatolian cities went from open to walled within a 50 year period. Mostly during the reign of Heraclius the Great. But that was only the first crisis. Heraclius did defeat the Persians. And had his defensive planning not been so great the Byzantine Empire, like the Persians, might have fallen during the second crisis."

"Which was," Amanda asked?

"The Arabs. Heraclius was a broken man by the time they stormed out of the desert wastes of Arabia. The Byzantines lost Syria, Palestine and worst of all, as far as the Constanipolitans were concerned, the bread basked of the empire: Egypt. It was only Heraclius' defenses in depth which saved the empire. And of course, the Theodosian Walls. Oh, and several earthquakes happened in the same time frame. Ephesus was devastated in one. Antioch and Beirut in another."

Caught the sunset again. Brilliant. Three in a row. Can I have ten, please?

May 29, 2008: Yesterday we sat on the beach for a few hours (I think I have the best tan of my life right now) and then shot off to Priene.

"Two reasons," I said, "why I like Priene better than Ephesus."

"The mountain?" she asked.

"Make it three," I said. "The mountain, one. The fact that it hasn't been restored, two. And three, that it is empty. No tourists. I have the place to myself. I can let my imagination reconstruct the city, or just appreciate the transience of human endeavor." (Gawd, do I really talk like that? LOL)

"It has been restored," she said. "Or at least, a little and it has been surveyed. The lines are clear, at least to my archeological eyes. See the red numbers painted on the debris?"

"Oh, yeah," I said. "You can read rocks like I read a text, can't you?"

She smirked.

"But for me," she continued, "the view, the site is excellent. Very beautiful. A much prettier location than Ephesus."

We walked along in silence. A keening wind blew through the pine trees, birds chirruped and the Meander River, below us, meandered on to the wine-dark sea.

Ephesus and Priene

Sat, 30 May 2009 01:43:50 -0700

As promised, here are the photos from Ephesus and Priene. A big shout-out to MJSteckel, for the suggestion to visit Priene.

Ephesus was a great site. And very big. But Priene, well, the view was fantastic. And the site, because it's less curated, let my imagination run wild. It was wonderful.

Enjoy.

Photos Tomorrow

Fri, 29 May 2009 18:43:13 -0700

Photos coming tomorrow. I'm off to Bucharest, or at least heading north on the 31st.

Beach Bum

Thu, 28 May 2009 01:30:43 -0700

I'm surrounded by hills with olive groves running up the walls. Apricot orchards and orange groves are everywhere.

The water is a deep sapphire blue. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The local wine is wonderful.

I have a deep Aegean tan.

Ephesus was magnificent and the mountain village of Sirince was all too picturesque.

Who gets to live such a life?