|
ANKARA, April 12
(AFP) - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer begins
a two-day visit to neighbouring Syria on Wednesday,
overriding pressure from the United States for
Ankara to keep its distance from a country which
Washington sees as a threat to the Middle East.
The April 13-14 visit, which has been long in the
making, was originally expected to be the latest in
a string of routine bilateral contacts between the
two neighbours, but took on a different significance
with the latest political upheaval in Lebanon.
As the international community issued call after
call for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon following
the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
Rafiq Hariri, the United States asked Turkey to side
with its western allies.
"What can be said on Syria is that the international
community is completely unanimous" on a Syrian
withdrawal, US ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman,
said last month. "We hope Turkey will join the
international community."
Turkey supports a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon,
but also says it wants to contribute to developing
good neighborly ties in the conflict-torn Middle
East.
Edelman's call, which came at a cool period in
Turkish-US relations due to differences over Iraq,
was largely interpreted as a warning for Sezer to
drop plans to visit Damascus which Washington
accuses of supporting terrorism.
Sezer announced that he would go ahead with the
visit, in a stance that has been hailed by his
Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
"Turkey denied other countries the opportunity to
interfere in its decision. This is the most
important side of this visit," he told Turkey's
CNN-Turk news channel in remarks translated to
Turkish.
According to Mustafa Aydin, an international
relations expert at Ankara University, strong ties
between Turkey and Syria are not against US
interests as Washington pursues its campaign for a
democratic and transparent Middle East.
"The United States has said it sees Turkey as an
example for Middle Eastern countries with its
democratic and secular regime. By explaining its
progress to Syria, Turkey is actually fulfilling its
part as a role model," Aydin said.
Developments in the Middle East as well as
flourishing bilateral ties are expected to dominate
Sezer's talks with Assad and Syrian Prime Minister
Naji Otri.
Assad told CNN-Turk that he would discuss with Sezer
the role of the United States and European countries
in the region which he said was resembling "the
colonial era."
"We can reduce the dangers to a minimum only if we
act together. The dangers are threatening all of us.
"They started with Iraq, now they are threatening
Syria and other countries... They are trying to
interfere in Turkey's affairs," he said.
Turkey and Syria have greatly improved their stormy
ties since 1998, when they came to the brink of war
over Ankara's accusations that Damascus was
sheltering separatist Kurdish militants fighting the
Turkish government.
Tensions eased when Damascus expelled Kurdish rebel
leader Abdullah Ocalan and signed a security deal
with Ankara, pledging to stop supporting Ocalan's
Kurdistan Workers' Party, better known as the PKK.
The high point in the improved relationship was a
visit visit here of Assad in January last year, the
first to Turkey by a Syrian head of state.
"Syria is an extremely important neighbour for
Turkey. Ankara wants close contact with Syria in
order to keep Kurdish rebels in check and to have a
supporter in its policy concerning Iraq," Aydin
said.
Turkey has made increasing overtures to Syria since
the US-led invasion of Iraq, both neighbors sharing
concerns that the post-war Iraq may break up and
spark new turmoil in the region.
Despite the improved ties between the two countries,
two sticking points remain: the waters of the
Euphrates, which has its source in Turkey, and the
status of Turkey's southern Hatay province, formerly
Alexandretta, which Syria still claims.
AFP
Top |
® 