The waiter smilingly asked if I was Turkish.” These were the opening remarks of Jesper Berg at a conference held in Damascus this week on “Turkey and the Middle East.”

    Tall, blond and light-eyed Berg, who really looks nothing like a Turk with his very Nordic features continued his welcome speech to prominent intellectuals, academics and journalists from Turkey, from the Arab world as well as Europe. “I felt bad both for him and myself for declining, for there is nothing better these days than to be a Turk or being with a Turk.” He says this restaurant welcome summed up the present attitude in Syria toward Turkey -- and not just in Syria but perhaps even for Turks themselves. “Just what is to be expected from this new and worldly role of Turkey?

It’s new territory,” he said, opening the floor to discussion on “the re-emergence of Turkey as a regional player in the Middle East and its potential new role regarding Europe.”

At the two-day conference, organized by the Danish Institute in Damascus in partnership with International Media Support (IMS), participants did not bother thinking about whether Turkey’s “maximum cooperation” policy with neighbors and especially with the Middle East was an alternative to its relations with the West because it was definitely not the case according to them, as experts on the topic, but they did have other concerns.

There were some doubts that these developing relations might be a reaction to the slowness of EU accession negotiations, but no one suggested that relations with the Middle East are a major policy shift from West to East or an alternative to one another. Rather, the questions were different and more in-depth.

The experts asked if Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors policy” is realistic. What if neighbors are at loggerheads with one another? How much soft power does Turkey really have? Is its historical and cultural legacy an advantage or a handicap and, in short, do these two polices complement one another?

Complementary but also problematic       

The answer given by former Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft to the last question is yes. “I do not think or hope that Turks will give up their desire for EU membership. These two lines of policy can easily be complementary, but they also mean Turkey is keeping all the options on the table,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.

He is of the opinion that good relations between Turkey and the Middle East are extremely useful for the EU, which is in need of better interlocutors and mediators. “We need people who are trustworthy as real interlocutors between the Arab world and the West. We cannot play this role as Europeans; our reputation may be better than that of the Americans, but it’s still not good enough for the Arab world,” he said.

He thinks Turkey’s relations with Iran, Afghanistan and its neighbors will be very important in preventing further conflict and that they will be helpful in solving existing problems peacefully because, according to him, “Turks have the right perspective.”

Other participants, however, were worried over whether Turkey’s relations with the Middle East will be considered an asset or an obstacle in Turkey-EU relations.

According to Marietje Schaake, who hails from the Netherlands and is a member of the European Parliament from the Democrats’66 Party, which is in favor of Turkey’s accession to the EU, good relations between Turkey and the Middle East can be used as an argument by both camps -- those against Turkey’s membership and those in favor of it.

“The Middle East is diverse, Turkey is diverse and Europe is diverse, too. Arguments used in favor of Turkey’s EU accession can also be used by people who are against its accession to the EU. My party believes that when Turkey is ready, it will be an asset to the EU. It will strengthen the union as a whole if Turkey fulfills the criteria, and it will also allow for easier communication and better understanding,” she told Sunday’s Zaman.

However, she underlined that there are many rightwing and other parties in Europe that think Turkey’s approach to the Middle East is an obstacle. “I think people in favor of Turkey are now a minority,” she added.

Schaake also spoke about the future and stressed that the process has to be carefully balanced by all parties. “Once Turkey is a member of the EU, it will fall under the umbrella of EU foreign policy, which is now shaped by the Lisbon Treaty. If Turkey joins, it will be part of a joint effort to create a common foreign policy,” she underlined.

Another European politician who has some concerns about future possibilities is Ursula Plassnik, a former Austrian foreign minister. She thinks the two processes -- Turkey’s EU bid and Turkey’s relations with the Middle East -- are still developing and that this is why they should be perceived as processes. “They can be very complementary and combined well. Overly optimistic expectations may not be helpful. Also, I am convinced the Turkish leadership is fully aware of the risks it is taking to maintain its important relationship with Israel,” she said.

Refusing to discuss this process in simplistic terms such as “advantageous” or “disadvantageous,” she said the new Turkish approach to its neighbors is very encouraging and positive. “It will strengthen Turkey, and it can generate very positive contributions to the Middle East,” she said, but added, “It is too early to give a definite judgment because the problems usually come up when you begin to discuss details.”

When she was reminded of the fact that Turkey and Syria have abolished visa requirements and started to talk about “integration” and asked about its possible effects on Turkey-EU relations, she replied that visa requirements and trade liberalization can turn into “complex matters” and recalled how European public opinion is very cautions about illegal immigration. “Our basic conviction is, if we can offer work and a decent life to people, we can cope with migration. If not, it is unfair to attract people to Europe, and we do not want to give promises that we cannot keep,” she said.

She underlined that Turkey’s regional experience may be different and that it will be beneficial for Turkey to open up to new markets, but certain problems may arise as a result of more economic cooperation. Nevertheless, Plassnik added, “This new movement and opening up to a new policy marks Turkey’s exit from self-chosen regional isolation, and it can only be welcomed by the EU side.”

Is neo-Ottomanism politically correct?

For the Arab world, Turkey’s EU bid and its policy of maximum cooperation are considered complementary. This view is held by one of the participants of the conference, Ernest Khoury, who is affiliated with the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper. Meanwhile he added that some Arab commentators also underline that Turkey’s new approach to the Middle East is not only for the sake of the Middle East.

“Some Arab commentators think Turkey is trying to get its EU ticket over its relations with Arabs. This new rapprochement by Turkey toward the Middle East is not only for the sake of the Arabs, but it does not mean that they are unhappy about it,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.

He underlined that in Lebanon, both Sunnis and Shiites think Turkey is the new leader of the Muslim world, though they have different views of the legacy of the Ottoman Empire. “The Sunnis in particular mention the good old days of the caliphate. But Shiites prefer to reference recent developments and events without mentioning the past as much as the Sunnis,” he said. Jihad el-Zein from the Lebanese An-Nahar daily considers it wrong to call Turkey’s rapprochement toward the Middle East neo-Ottomanism. “It can backfire, and it is not correct,” he said.

“To name it neo-Ottomanism brings to mind hegemonic relations, and it is politically not correct. Furthermore, what we are witnessing now is different; these are Turkish efforts to develop good relations from the Caucasus to the Balkans,” he said.

He also underlined that in this new period of time, Turkey’s message regarding democracy will be important for the Arab world. “Turkey’s adventure as it tries to combine modernity and Islam will be very important. The Turkish democracy experience is very important in this sense, and the Arab world can find some answers in the Turkish experience,” he said.

Patrick Seale, a British journalist and an expert on Syria, agrees that relations will not solely be on the governmental level or only in the field of cooperating over international matters to boost trade volume. They may in fact help the inner transformation of the Arab world, and especially Syria. “I think the links between people will follow the governments’ naturally. Of course, both countries are in different stages of evaluation. Syria is much smaller and rather anxious because it is under great pressure from the international community, but Turkey can play a very important role to ease Syria’s ‘we are besieged’ mentality,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.

Seale also underlined that Turkey’s peace policy is “wonderful” for the whole region and that it has already had some success. “I am now waiting for a major Turkish initiative in Afghanistan because the US and NATO need such an initiative for a political solution toward a political problem rather than being a military problem. Turkey can do that, and I think such a Turkish initiative, as part of its peace policy, is under way.” todasyzaman