Turkey's Complex Policy

Robert Marquand's balanced piece captures the subtlety of Turkey's current policy toward its neighbors, "Europe wary of a new Ottoman Empire" (June 21).

Indeed, Turkey is one of the world's major enigmas: a Muslim (and secular) country located culturally and geographically in and between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with longstanding membership in NATO, a well-established Jewish community, and a strong positive relationship with Israel (albeit damaged by the Gaza war and blockade and recent flotilla incident).

Turkey is also negotiating entry into the European Union, for which it has implemented significant democratic and human rights reforms.

It is ironic, therefore, that many observers in the West are characterizing Turkey's current foreign-policy behavior, which is designed to fulfill more of the promise inherent in its complex identity, as evidence that Turkey is abandoning "us" for "them" in a bid to return to a less hegemonic version of its Ottoman-era presence in the region.

As former French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine (cited in Mr. Marquand's article) argues, however, nothing could be further from the truth: "Turkey has no interest in turning its back to Europe.... Turkey's strategic interest is to maintain relations with everyone: the US, Europe,... Central Asia, the Arab world."

By implication, and despite its bellicose rhetoric toward Israel, Turkey also has no interest in turning its back on the Jewish state. Hence, in contrast to the simplistic argument that Turkey is abandoning the West, including Israel, for its Muslim neighbors, the actual situation seems to be more subtle as Turkey capitalizes on its unique cultural and geopolitical position to contribute regionally to transforming the otherwise self-fulfilling "clash" into a "dialogue of civilizations."

Dennis J.D. Sandole
Professor of conflict resolution and international relations, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
Fairfax, Va.