Turkey began to assume a more active role in its region and in the international arena. Even though the main elements have been in place since the founding of the Republic, neither the international environment nor Turkey’s firepower was appropriate for such a role. Despite its efforts to establish a peaceful neighborhood during the inter-war period, Turkey could not advance further because of the Great depression, the on-going colonial competition among western powers and numerous national struggles against them. The founder of Turkish Republic declared its principle “peace at home, peace abroad”. The heavy burden of decade long wars fought by the Turkish people and the trauma of collapsing their great empire left little room for such an international role. The founders of the Turkish republic also maintained a one-sided love for the West rather than a mutual one. It took almost a century to find its niche after major changes took place in the global arena such as the World War II, the end of Cold War. The coming of the AK Party government to power in 2003 marked a major change in the nature of Turkish foreign policy in its new emphasis on good neighborhood, global peace, cooperation, and global justice. 

 

The AK Party government’s foreign policy was set forth by Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu under the label ‘zero problems with neighbors’. However, it did not quickly convince many people in the beginning as it took time to disperse suspicions about Turkey’s real intentions. In a world driven by conflict and self-interest, it slowly began to be appreciated at home and abroad. At home, previously Turkey made enemies all around its borders from Syria, Iran, and Armenia to Greece along with distrustful relations with others such as Iraq and Russia. Turkey’s intention of good neighborhood became appreciated first by Syria, Iran and especially Greece. Even with Armenia, Turkey took the first step in establishing a new dialogue. 

 

Turkey’s good neighborhood began to be appreciated by others. As the former US President Bill Clinton noted, Turkey is the only country in the world to get along well with both Iran and Israel simultaneously. Turkey’s relations with Israel demonstrate some uneasiness of late due the latter’s unjustified use of heavy force in Gaza. This is not Turkey’s fault as even its staunch ally, the US, are having problem with the right-wing Israeli governments of late. Only the other day Daniel Speckhard, the US ambassador in Greece, advised the Greek officials to believe in Turkey’s zero problem policy. 

 

Good neighborhood that focused on peaceful relations with neighbors also meant supporting global peace. While Russia and China are supporting Iran for its nuclear program, Turkey demands a clean-up of the region from all nuclear arms. In fact both Russia and China are not sincere in their attitude toward Iran as they provoke Iran to challenge the US while they blink to the latter about the sanctions on the former. In a way, they both use Iran as a leverage to obtain concessions both from Iran and the US for themselves. It is probable that they leave Iran by herself if they obtain what they want from the US or vice versa. 

 

Turkey, however, is acting on principles such as peace and dialogue rather than using them as a bargaining chip. Turkey demands universal principles to be applied consistently. In other words, Turkey notes the inconsistency of the current nuclear powers’ rejection of other states from obtaining the same weapon or ignoring Israel’s nuclear arms. The US must not force Turkey to take a partial stance in favor of American policies in its growing efforts to marginalize Iran through further sanctions or even a military intervention. This risks the value of Turkey’s balanced approach and a voice of conscience in the global arena.

Turkish leaders are doing more than promises. They have been encouraging peaceful relations between different ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, trying to find a middle ground between the US and Iran, between Iraq and Syria, Syria and Israel, Iran and Gulf countries. In that regard the King Faisal peace award was given to the Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his role in regional and international peace. A Middle East peace seems to be the most important problem of the world today will probably need a Turkish mediator after its near miss prior to the Gaza war. The on-going US-Iran tension also needs mediation by Turkey whose good intention is trusted by both parties. 

 

Turkey believes that peace and good neighborhood is not possible without dialogue and cooperation. In a conflict-torn Middle East, it spent efforts to get the neighbors involved in the Iraqi problem even before the American invasion of Iraq and continues to play a major part in stabilizing Iraq by encouraging its ethnic and religious communities to live together and by organizing its neighbors around this cause. Even the Kurdish leaders in the North of Iraq began to believe in the sincerity of Turkey. Secondly, Turkey believes in economic and social cooperation between countries. In that regards, it tries to establish trade partners with the North and South, the East and West. 

 

In a world filled with conflict and war, with poverty and distrust, the developed countries must try to make the world a better place for everyone. Their current efforts are mostly insufficient and ineffective as they lack the will power and paralyzed by national interests. Especially the US is less effective in that regard due to the dominance of lobbies and corporate money in American politics. Its ideological and pro-Israeli convictions make it unnecessarily selective in its foreign aid and its support for democracy abroad. The European Union seems to be more sincere in that regard but it is also hindered by the multiplicity of voices and agendas with the EU. 

 

Turkey is not free of problems in the international arena. The Armenian genocide claims continue to haunt it after almost a century. So far, it could not solve the Kurdish problem that obstructs a rational and unbiased dialogue with the Iraqi Kurds. This is not mostly the AK party government’s fault because its major efforts to come to terms with both problems in the past year were sabotaged by the nationalist opposition parties in the form of secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), conservative National Movement Party (MHP) or ethnic Democratic Society Party (DTP). The CHP and MHP also showed fierce reactions to the government’s normalization efforts with Armenia.

 

The world needs Turkey’s peaceful and neighborliness in the new century. However, the world can show some appreciation of Turkey’s peaceful and neighborly policies by encouraging the Turkish public opinion to maintain the same direction. It seems that Turkey’s contribution is underappreciated in the West as they take it for granted. However, it is not necessarily the case as Turkey is going through a critical period of democratization and improving rule of law with a new project of constitutional amendment in this summer. However, traditional elites including the Republican People’s Party and state bureaucracy display great resistance to making Turkey a more democratic and open society with their Third-Worldist, isolationist and exceptionalist attitudes. Considering the rejectionist attitude of the opposition parties and state elites, the next elections can have significant implications for Turkey and the world.