TURKPULSE No:134
EURASIAN POLICY IN FULL
SWING IN 2005, AFTER EU IN 2004
TURKPULSE No:134
EURASIAN POLICY IN FULL
SWING IN 2005, AFTER EU IN 2004
The latter weeks of last year were a hectic marathon for Turkish diplomacy after its half-a-century dream of EU accession. Until October 3rd, 2005, the EU accession will go through a calm period with Cyprus, Iraq and other flash points of the region preoccupying Ankara in its foreign policy activities. Meanwhile, pending the clarification of the situation about commencing the EU negotiations after October, the other leg of Turkish diplomacy, the Eurasian allegiance, will be Ankara’s first priority. PM Tayyip Erdogan, in particular, did not lose any time in giving a boost to this second leg of Turkey’s foreign policy, starting with a very promising economic cooperation program with next door neighbour Syria and going on with a much more comprehensive cooperation with its big neighbour in the north, the Russian Federation. As for the third leg, Turkish-American relations, which Foreign Minister Gul described, in a traditional, insincere language of 19th century international diplomacy, “the indispensable and most important aspect of Turkey’s foreign policy,” please read the article below to see what a shambles it really is in.
TURKPULSE No:135U.S. MILITARY SEEKS A
FURTHER $80 BILLION FOR BME
The congressional debates, prior to the changing of the guards in the State Department, did not bring much clarity to the American intentions concerning its Broader Middle East (BME) policy under the new Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Instead, the new Bush Administration’s application to Congress last week for $80 billion additional military appropriations for the region was a much more significant development in shedding light on Washington’s intentions. Even though the announcement put this sum for “Iraq and Afghanistan” most diplomatic analysts tended to read it as “Iran and Syria”. At the outset of the Iraq war in 2003 the American Government put the cost of the American presence in Iraq at $50 billion a year or $1 billion a week. This $80 billion plus the $25 billion that already exists in the budget more than doubles that sum for this year. Does it mean the enlargement of the American military operations in Iraq after the 30 January elections or shifting the military action elsewhere? About Turkey’s role and place in these potential developments, please read the article below.