Transatlantic Politics

There’s a witty editorial in the yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (requires subscription) about Angela Merkel’s totally softened policy-making. The title "Angela Schroeder" says it all, the current holder of the EU-presidency has actually more resemblance to her predecessor than to what she initially was supposed to stand for: closer US-German relations, stronger NATO involvement, "less government", cutting taxes, economic reform.

Upon assuming the presidency of the bloc in January, Ms. Merkel decided to use this rare opportunity to shape the Brussels agenda for six months to advance the softest of all soft policies: to revive the European Constitution.
(…)The EU’s real challenges are elsewhere: enlargement to the Balkans and Turkey, economic reform, the incomplete single market, terrorism, immigration, energy security to name only a few. Any of those would have proved more challenging for Ms. Merkel — and so much more beneficial for the EU.

Instead of immigration or energy security, Ms. Merkel has given in to the green obsession (despite her center-right orientation) currently so trendy in the EU: gas emission targets that are merely "PR gimmicks" - 20% by 2020 - when just 2 of the 15 old EU member states are on track to meet the Kyoto protocol. On issues like Iran, Merkel has also visibly given in to her Social-Democrat predecessors and members of cabinet. If one year ago, she was comparing Iran’s rhetoric to the Nazis, now she softened the tone and let her Foreign Minister and Schroeder’s former chief of staff do the talking. In Afghanistan, NATO is "fighting uphill" because of her refusal to move the 2700 troops out of the stable north to the more dangerous south.

The latest Merkel disappointment involves American plans to expand its missile defense shield. Poland and the Czech Republic are in talks with Washington to install radar and missile sites to better protect the U.S. and Europe against an Iranian missile attack. To stir up nationalist furies at home and pressure the Poles and Czechs, Vladimir Putin lashed out against the missile plan, knowing full well this limited system could never put a dent in Russia’s own nuclear threat. Germany’s foreign minister immediately rushed to the defense — of the Kremlin. Mr. Steinmeier accused the U.S. of supposedly failing to inform Russia about the missile plans.
Ms. Merkel could have set her foreign minister straight for resuscitating the Schröder-style coddling of Moscow. But she, who grew up in East Germany, only seconded him. Ahead of a trip to Warsaw last week, the chancellor said, "We, and I will say it in Poland, prefer a solution within NATO and also an open discussion with Russia about it." The Germans aren’t so concerned with NATO cohesion in Afghanistan. In this case, the countries directly involved are the ones to decide.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The Bush administration is slowly recognizing that without Turkey’s full commitment and leadership, there cannot be any real perspective for peace in the Middle East. Yesterday, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and presented the new "Shared Vision" between the US and Turkey. The new policy suggest a stronger partnership, probably more lobbying in Brussels to get 2014 as an EU accession date, promoted already both by the Turkish government and business groups are already promoting as an accession target date. Energy transport and security is also a key-component in the US-Turkey relationship, and is becoming increasingly important to the EU.

Secretary Rice has instructed me to shift the focus of the U.S.-Turkey relationship from one of simply managing challenges to one where the United States and Turkey are working cooperatively to advance a broad range of issues, putting in action our shared interests and common values. Our shared interests include stability and freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, democratic reform in the broader Middle East, energy security across Eurasia, and Turkey’s deeper anchoring in Europe.

On the energy security issue, the plan is to further invest in the already existing pipelines that link Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and expand this network to Europe, for instance through the Nabucco natural gas pipeline that would ultimately end in Austria (maybe that will melt down their anti-Turkish feelings a little bit) and the emerging Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline. There are also negotiations for gas exports from Iraq to Europe via Turkey.

As these natural gas projects develop, they will emerge as a Southern Corridor of infrastructure that will offer fair and transparent competition to Gazprom’s massive network of gas pipelines that is in place - and expanding - in Northern Europe. The Southern Corridor can change Eurasia’s strategic map by offering Europe its best hope for large volumes of natural gas supplies that will allow diversification away from a deepening reliance on one supplier or network. Turkey, if it continues to act as a partner with its neighbors, including by reaching a commercially attractive gas transit agreement with Azerbaijan, will be the centerpiece of this grand strategic effort.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A headline that reminds of just another day in a Muslim authoritarian regime - "Turkey bans YouTube over a video mocking Ataturk".

Turkish visitors to the site are now greeted with a message in English and Turkish reading "Access to www.youtube.com site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/384 dated 06.03.2007 of Istanbul First Criminal Peace Court". The decision was taken after prosecutors told the court that clips insulting former Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had appeared on the site. According to Turkish media, there has been a "virtual war" between Greek and Turkish users of the site, with both sides posting insulting videos. The clip prompting the ban reportedly dubbed Ataturk and Turks homosexuals.

Strange, because Ataturk is not an acting Arab king or dictator. He died 69 years ago and Turkey is proud of being the only secular democracy among Muslim countries, separating Islam from the government, banning headscarves from public institutions, writing in Latin alphabet. But Ataturk was the architect of these bold reforms that date back to the post WW1-era, and is therefore entitled to have a cult similar to the American Founding Fathers. The problem is that limiting basic civil rights and the access to information in the name of patriotism, or imprisoning  journalists, writers and opposition members over "insulting Turkishness" certainly doesn’t carry on Ataturk’s legacy.
The charges against Nobel Price winner Orhan Pamuk made him a "cause celebre" in the West against the the controversial "Article 301" that refers to "insulting Turkishness". And with the assassination of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January this year, the Turkish government has come under an unprecedented pressure from the EU and US to accept the  "Armenian genocide" supposedly carried out by Turkey in 1915. Affirming the existence of the genocide was the reason for Pamuk’s indictment and cause worth fighting for for the late Dink.
Even government officials admit that the freedom of expression issue overshadows completely all the other relevant and important progress and performances Turkey has achieved. "This article 301 overshadows Turkey’s reform progress. Both myself and Prime Minister Erdogan believe that we have to change this article," Foreign Minister Gul said in an interview with EUObserver.
With this latest move on YouTube, they are definitely not moving in the right direction…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!