Why Weren’t We There?
The media and certain politicians are asking why Turkey hasn’t been present at these meetings and initiatives while many other countries, in contrast, have participated.
First of all, Turkey needn’t develop an inferiority complex just because it wasn’t invited to certain meetings. In addition, the importance and standing of a country on the international stage doesn’t depend on its appearance at this or that activity. Let’s re-consider the above list.
The G-8 summit was held with French President Jacques Chirac’s initiative and with the participation of 13 countries plus four international institutions from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Some of the guest countries were truly undeveloped, such as Senegal and Nigeria. Of course Turkey doesn’t fall in this category. Some of the issues discussed at the summit directly interested other guest countries such as China and India. Greece attended the meeting in its capacity as the European Union’s term president. So concluding from our not being invited that the West doesn’t want us and so is excluding us is both mistaken and humiliating.
The same thing can be said for the peace initiative in the Middle East. The ‘road map’ is a plan prepared months ago by the Bush administration along with the EU, the United Nations and Russia. Bush tried to impose this plan first on Arab leaders and then on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Of course at this stage, Turkey can’t really help with it, but then it might be able to make contributions later. Thus, there is no need to feel that Turkey was excluded.
As for the Iraq issue, it’s a fact that for the time being the US is keeping Turkey at a distance from developments here. This is the result of the deep injury in Turkish-US relations caused by Ankara’s stance during the Iraq war. As we ask why we aren’t at the table, we should re-examine our Iraq policies and work on getting a future place at the table. Our participation in key international developments depends on our producing new and smarter policies.
