III. The End of ‘Zero Problems’, 2010–13

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

¹ Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Interview by Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu published in AUC Cairo Review (Egypt) on 12 March 2012’, <http://www.mfa.gov.tr/interview-by-mr_-ahmet-davutoglu-published-in-auc-cairo-review-_egypt_-on-12-march-2012.en.mfa>, accessed 30 October 2014.

² Agence France Presse, ‘Despite Fallout, Turkey Seeks to “Inspire” Arab Revolt’, 16 June 2011.

³ Ahmet Davutoglu, Stratejik Derinlik (Istanbul: Kure Yayinlari, 2001), p. 368.

⁴ Birol Baskan, ‘Arabs’ Spring, Turks’ Autumn’, Washington Review of Turkish and Eurasian Affairs (June 2012).

⁵ Agence France Presse, ‘Tunisia's Opposition Leader to Visit Turkey: Report’, 25 February 2011.

⁶ Anadolu Agency, ‘Tunisian Banned Party Leader Ghannouchi to Visit Turkey in March’, 25 February 2011.

⁷ Philip Robins, Suits and Uniforms: Turkish Foreign Policy since the End of the Cold War (London: Hurst & Company, 2003), p. 151. See also ‘Groups Issue Statement on Gulf Mediation’, Al Sha'b, as published in Daily Report, Near East and South Asia, FBIS-NES-90-184, 18 September 1990. See also Hurriyet Daily News, ‘CHP Deputy Questions Erbakan's Relations with Libyan Leader’, 12 May 1997.

⁸ Hurriyet Daily News, ‘Tunisian Islamist Leader Embraces Turkey, Praises Erbakan’, 3 March 2011.

⁹ Guardian, ‘Tunisia's Election Winners Form Interim Government after Uprising’, 22 November 2011.

¹⁰ Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, ‘Address by H.E. Abdullah Gül to the Founding Assembly of Tunisia’, 8 March 2012, <http://www.tccb.gov.tr/speeches-statements/344/82302/addreb-by-he-abdullah-gul-to-the-founding-abembly-of-tunisia.html>, accessed 30 October 2014.

¹¹ Jonny Hogg and Nick Tatersall, ‘Turkey, Frustrated with West, Clings to Fading Vision for the Middle East’, Reuters, 1 October 2014.

¹² Ahmet Davutoglu, ‘The Clash of Interests: An Explanation of the World [Dis]order’, Intellectual Discourse (Vol. 2, No. 2, 1994), pp. 122–23.

¹³ Guardian News Blog, ‘Egypt Protests – Tuesday 1 February’, 1 February 2011.

¹⁴ Benjamin Harvey, ‘Erdogan Tells Egypt's Mubarak He Should Listen to His People’, Bloomberg, 1 February 2011.

¹⁵ Joe Parkinson, ‘Turkey: Mubarak Should Leave Now’, Wall Street Journal, 2 February 2011.

¹⁶ Ahmet Davutoglu, ‘Zero Problems in a New Era: Realpolitik is No Answer to the Challenges Posed by the Arab Spring’, Foreign Policy, 21 March 2013.

¹⁷ Ahmet Davutoglu, ‘Zero Problems in a New Era: Realpolitik is No Answer to the Challenges Posed by the Arab Spring’, Foreign Policy, 21 March 2013.

¹⁸ Robins, Suits and Uniforms, p. 151; Associated Press, ‘Islamic Leader Returns to Turkish Court to Defend Party’, 19 November 1997.

¹⁹ Daily Report, ‘Egypt: Mubarak's Talks in Turkey Detailed’, 19 July 1996.

²⁰ Davutoglu, ‘The Clash of Interests’, p. 108.

²¹ Saban Kardas, ‘Turkey and the Arab Spring: Coming to Terms with Democracy Promotion?’, German Marshall Foundation Policy Brief, October 2011.

²² In a March 2012 interview with the AUC Cairo Review, Davutoglu reiterated the argument he first posited in 1994, saying, ‘the presentation of the Muslim world as a potential enemy has also resulted in encouraging oppressive political tendencies in Muslim countries for the sake of preserving Western interests and thus exempting the Muslim world from enjoying the universality of democratic values’. See Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Interview by Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu, published in AUC Cairo Review (Egypt) on 12 March 2012’.

²³ David Kirkpatrick, ‘Premier of Turkey Takes Role in Region’, New York Times, 12 September 2011.

²⁴ Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Interview by Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu, published in AUC Cairo Review (Egypt) on 12 March 2012’.

²⁵ Mensur Akgun and Sabiha Senyucel Gundogar, ‘The Perception of Turkey in the Middle East 2011’, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, 2011.

²⁶ Mohamed S Younis, ‘Turkish Delight: The Feasibility of the “Turkish Model” for Egypt’, Turkish Policy Quarterly (Vol. 10, No. 4, Winter 2012), p. 109.

²⁷ Mohamed S Younis, ‘Turkish Delight: The Feasibility of the “Turkish Model” for Egypt’, Turkish Policy Quarterly (Vol. 10, No. 4, Winter 2012), p. 109.

²⁸ Mohamed S Younis, ‘Turkish Delight: The Feasibility of the “Turkish Model” for Egypt’, Turkish Policy Quarterly (Vol. 10, No. 4, Winter 2012), p. 109.

²⁹ Marc Champion and Matt Bradley, ‘Islamists Criticize Turkish Premier's “Secular” Remarks’, Wall Street Journal, 15 September 2011.

³⁰ Younis argues that: ‘Many forget that for most Egyptians, Turkey, while respected as a regional leader and important economic trade partner today, is still viewed from a historic lens in Egypt, as a colonial power that ruled the country under Ottoman rule for nearly four centuries (1517–1914). Much of the anti-colonial ultra-nationalist rhetoric that has taken hold of the country lately could as effectively and quickly take hold against an explicit and public effort by Turkey to present its “lessons” in democracy as a model for Egyptians.’ See Younis, ‘Turkish Delight’, pp. 110–11.

³¹ Sam Dagher, Matt Bradley and Charles Levinson, ‘New Arab Leaders Scramble to Contain Gaza Conflict’, Wall Street Journal, 17 November 2012.

³² Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Interview by Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu published in AUC Cairo Review (Egypt) on 12 March 2012’.

³³ Taha Ozhan, ‘“Egypt Turkey” Axis and the New Middle East Geopolitics’, SETA Foundation, 17 November 2012.

³⁴ Taha Ozhan, ‘“Egypt Turkey” Axis and the New Middle East Geopolitics’, SETA Foundation, 17 November 2012.

³⁵ Davutoglu, ‘The Clash of Interests’, pp. 122–23.

³⁶ According to Ozhan, ‘The Arab people were quite aware of the reasons behind their suffering and they said that it was not only governments that encroached on their democratic rights, which was reflected in their slogan: “the people demand the fall of the order”. The order here does not simply refer to a single government in isolation from other experiences in the region. It must be understood as a broader term, referring to the established order in the region, and, as dictators in the Arab world fall one after another, the new regional order is in the making.’ See Taha Ozhan, ‘The Arab Spring and Turkey’, SETA Foundation, 15 October 2011.

³⁷ In an overt reference to this, Davutoglu noted in 2012: ‘From our point of view, it was expected; we were aware of the urgent need for change and democratic transformation in the region. As you might remember, in my book Strategic Depth (April 2001) I have underlined that the stability and political experience in the Arab states were not based on social legitimacy, and that stability was worthless. Likewise, I have also asserted that the transformation in Arab nationalism and the political legitimacy crises in the Arab world would affect the political leadership structures of those countries. As such, from the early years of the previous decade, we started emphasizing the importance of introducing political and economic reforms and upholding dignity, human rights and freedoms, as well as universal values such as the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and gender equality in the region.’ See Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Interview by Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu, published in AUC Cairo Review (Egypt) on 12 March 2012’.

³⁸ E-mail correspondence with Steven Cook, Hasib J Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, 26 October 2014.

³⁹ Emre Uslu, ‘Hakan Fidan, Mursi'yi mi darbecileri mi bilgilendirdi’, Taraf, 4 September 2013, <http://www.taraf.com.tr/yazilar/emre-uslu-2/hakan-fidan-mursi-yi-mi-darbecileri-mi/27179/>, accessed 31 October 2014.

⁴⁰ Sabah, ‘MIT Mustesarı Fidan, Mursi'yi uyarmis!’, 23 August 2013.

⁴¹ Associated Press, ‘Turkey Slams Morsi's Military Ouster’, 4 July 2013.

⁴² BBC Monitoring Europe – Political, ‘Turkish Ruling Party Urges Egyptian President's Backers to Defend Votes – Daily’, 4 July 2013; Daniel Dombey, ‘Erdogan Attacks West's Reaction to Morsi's Overthrow’, Financial Times, 5 July 2013.

⁴³ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey PM Blasts Egypt “Coup” as Enemy of Democracy’, 5 July 2012.

⁴⁴ Robin Wright, ‘Islam, Democracy and the West’, Foreign Affairs (Vol. 71, No. 3, Summer 1992).

⁴⁵ Ibrahim Kalin, ‘Egypt's Loss’, Today's Zaman, 10 July 2013.

⁴⁶ Ibrahim Kalin, ‘Egypt's Loss’, Today's Zaman, 10 July 2013.

⁴⁷ Kadri Gursel, ‘Erdogan Veers Away from “Reformed Moderate Islam”’, Al-Monitor, 23 August 2013; Milliyet, ‘Dunya demokrasiyi sorgular hale gelir’, 16 August 2013.

⁴⁸ Al Jazeera, ‘Egypt Expels Turkey's Ambassador’, 23 November 2013.

⁴⁹ Human Rights Watch, ‘Egypt: All According to Plan’, 12 August 2014.

⁵⁰ Radikal, ‘Erdogan: Yarın belki Turkiye'yi karistirmak isteyecekler’, 17 August 2013, <http://www.radikal.com.tr/politika/erdogan_yarin_belki_turkiyeyi_karistirmak_isteyecekler-1146605>, accessed 31 October 2014.

⁵¹ Ibrahim Kalin, ‘Egypt's Predicament’, Daily Sabah, 6 May 2014.

⁵² The Spectator, ‘Full Text: Tony Blair's Speech on Why the Middle East Matters’, 23 April 2014.

⁵³ Kalin, ‘Egypt's Predicament’.

⁵⁴ Ali Unal, ‘Turkey Demands Sensitivity Towards Islamaphobia’, Daily Sabah, 8 October 2010.

⁵⁵ Jeffrey Goldberg, ‘The Modern King in the Arab Spring’, The Atlantic, 18 March 2013.

⁵⁶ Jeffrey Goldberg, ‘The Modern King in the Arab Spring’, The Atlantic, 18 March 2013.

⁵⁷ April Yee, ‘Turkish Energy Minister Fires Back over Taqa Power Project Delay’, The National, 28 August 2013.

⁵⁸ Jennifer Noyon, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Region’, Washington Quarterly (Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer 1984), p. 80.

⁵⁹ William Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy Since 1774, 3^rd edition (London: Routledge, 2013), p. 228.

⁶⁰ Robins, Suits and Uniforms, pp. 210–11.

⁶¹ Robins, Suits and Uniforms, p. 150.

⁶² BBC Monitoring Europe – Political, ‘Turkish PM Describes Visit to Libya as “Very Productive”’, 26 November 2009. According to Kemal Demirciler, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ head of Visa Section, ‘After the visa waiver was signed with Libya, planes between Libya and Turkey are now full, with two flights a day’. See ‘Turkey Drops Visa Requirements for More Countries’, diplomatic cable sent from the US embassy in Ankara, Wikileaks, 28 December 2009, <https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09ANKARA1841>, accessed 14 November 2014.

⁶³ Anadolu Agency, ‘Libya Promises Business Worth Billions of USD, Minister Caglayan’, 24 November 2009.

⁶⁴ ANSAmed, ‘Turkish Contractor takes on Largest Mall in Africa’, 18 December 2009.

⁶⁵ As quoted in Ozlem Tur, ‘Economic Relations with the Middle East under the AKP – Trade, Business Community and Reintegration with Neighboring Zones’, Turkish Studies (Vol. 12, No. 4, Winter 2011), pp. 598–99.

⁶⁶ Ismail Duman, ‘What is Turkey's Position on Libya?’, World Bulletin, 12 April 2011.

⁶⁷ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey Warns Libya against “Mistake” of Ignoring People’, 22 February 2011.

⁶⁸ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey Warns Libya against “Mistake” of Ignoring People’, 22 February 2011.

⁶⁹ Suzan Fraser, ‘Turkey's PM Speaks Out against Libya Sanctions’, Associated Press, 26 February 2011.

⁷⁰ Times of Malta, ‘Turkey Blasts Move for Libya Sanctions’, 26 February 2011.

⁷¹ Hurriyet Daily News, ‘Turkish IHH Sends 682 Tons of Humanitarian Aid to Libya’, 12 April 2011.

⁷² BBC Monitoring Europe – Political, ‘Turkish PM Says NATO Should Not Intervene in Libya’, 28 February 2011.

⁷³ Deutsche Presse-Agentur, ‘Turkey Opposes Military Intervention in Libya’, 3 March 2011. See also Akin Unver, ‘Turkey's Position on Libya’, Foreign Policy Association Blog, 19 March 2011.

⁷⁴ Agene France Presse, ‘Turkey PM Urges Kadhafi to Appoint President: Report’, 15 March 2011.

⁷⁵ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey Urges Review of NATO Planning on Libya’, 20 March 2011.

⁷⁶ David Kirkpatrick, Steven Erlanger and Elisabeth Bumiller, ‘Allies Open Air Assault on Qaddafi's Forces in Libya’, New York Times, 19 March 2011.

⁷⁷ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey Says Ready to Contribute to Libya Operations’, 20 March 2011.

⁷⁸ BBC Monitoring Europe – Political, ‘Turkish PM Criticizes Al-Qadhafi for Not Heeding Turkey's Advice to Step Down’, 21 March 2011; Today's Zaman, ‘PM Erdogan Criticizes Gaddafi, Calls for Swift End to Operation’, 21 March 2011.

⁷⁹ Agence France Presse, ‘Turkey Questions “Secret Intentions” in Libya Strike’, 23 March 2011.

⁸⁰ According to NATO, ‘The operation was commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard from CJTF Naples, Italy. All NATO air assets participating in Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR were under the command of Lt Gen Ralph J Jodice, CFAC Izmir, Turkey. Real-time tactical control was exercised by NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Poggio Renatico, Italy.’ See NATO, ‘NATO Arms Embargo and No Fly Zone Implementation for Operation Unified Protector’, <http://www.jfcnaples.nato.int/Unified_Protector/AC-IZMIR.aspx?>, accessed 3 November 2014.

⁸¹ Qatar News Agency, ‘FM Davutoglu Arrives in Paris for Libya Conference’, 1 September 2011.

⁸² Reuters, ‘Turkey Says Reopening Embassy in Libya’, 2 September 2011.

⁸³ Frederic Wehrey, ‘Modest Mission?’, Foreign Affairs, 4 November 2013.

⁸⁴ Today's Zaman, ‘Libyan Soldiers Arrive in Turkey for Training’, 8 December 2013.

⁸⁵ Frederic Wehrey, ‘What's Behind Libya's Spiraling Violence?’, Washington Post, 28 July 2014.

⁸⁶ Al Arabiya News, ‘Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Holds their First Congress in Benghazi after 25 Years’, 18 November 2011.

⁸⁷ Project on Middle East Democracy, ‘POMED Backgrounder: Previewing Libya's Elections’, 5 July 2012.

⁸⁸ Mary Fitzgerald, ‘Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Struggles to Grow’, Foreign Policy, 1 May 2014.

⁸⁹ Mary Fitzgerald, ‘Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Struggles to Grow’, Foreign Policy, 1 May 2014.

⁹⁰ David Kirkpatrick and Eric Schmitt, ‘Arab Nations Strike in Libya, Surprising US’, New York Times, 25 August 2014.

⁹¹ Mary Fitzgerald, ‘Libyan Renegade General Khalifa Haftar Claims He is Winning His War’, Guardian, 24 June 2014.

⁹² Mary Fitzgerald, ‘Libyan Renegade General Khalifa Haftar Claims He is Winning His War’, Guardian, 24 June 2014.

⁹³ Reuters, ‘Renegade General Urges Turks, Qataris to Leave East Libya’, 22 June 2014.

⁹⁴ Ulf Laesing and Ahmed Elumami, ‘Rival Libyan PM Meets Turkish Envoy in First Known Meeting with Foreign Visitor’, Reuters, 21 October 2014.

⁹⁵ Heba Al-Shibani and Feras Bosalum, ‘Forces from Libyan City of Misrata Say They Seized Tripoli Airport’, Reuters, 23 August 2014.

⁹⁶ E-mail correspondence, Mary Fitzgerald, 26 October 2014.

⁹⁷ Aaron Zelin, ‘Know Your Ansar Al-Sharia’, Foreign Policy, 21 September 2012.

⁹⁸ Jonny Hogg, ‘Turkey's US Relations Show Strain as Washington's Patience Wears Thin’, Reuters, 23 October 2014.

⁹⁹ Aaron Zelin, ‘When Jihadists Learn How to Help’, Washington Post, 7 May 2014. In February 2014, these areas came under attack by groups linked to the Islamic Front – an umbrella group of Syrian rebels that received support from Turkey – and Al-Qa'ida-linked Jabhat Al-Nusra. During the assault on Kasab, numerous reports emerged suggesting that Turkey allowed Jabhat Al-Nusra (which is not a member of the Islamic Front, but co-operates with some Islamic Front groups) and other fighters to transit its territory to attack the town. In April 2014, Ruth Sherlock wrote: ‘Turkish authorities gave rebel groups the mandate they needed to attack, allowing them access through a heavily militarised Turkish border post, whose location was strategically vital to the success of the assault … Two days later Kasab was in the hands of an alliance of Islamist groups, including the jihadist Jabhat al-Nusra, aligned with al-Qaeda … [In a]lmost all of the villages approximately 2,000 inhabitants had fled.’ See Ruth Sherlock, ‘Turkey “Aided Islamist Fighters” in Attack on Syrian Town’, Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2014.

¹⁰⁰ Aaron Zelin, ‘When Jihadists Learn How to Help’, Washington Post, 7 May 2014.

¹⁰¹ Ahmet Davutoglu, ‘Turkey's Foreign Policy Vision: An Assessment of 2007’, Insight Turkey (Vol. 10, No. 1, 2008), p. 83.

¹⁰² Washington Post, ‘Tunisia's Democratic Compromises Should Serve as a Regional Model’, 10 January 2014.

¹⁰³ Eileen Byrne, ‘Tunisia's Islamist Party Ennahda Accepts Defeat in Elections’, Guardian, 27 October 2014.