Turkey's Foreign Policy in a Changing World - St Antony's College ...

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Turkey's Foreign Policy in a Changing World | International Conference | Oxford 30 April – 2 May 2010 Discussion: Turkey and the Middle East There were many questions from the audience. The first came from Tocci and Motika on the cost of Turkey’s continued relations with Iran, especially vis-à-vis Turkey’s relation with the US. Akkoyunlu defended Turkey’s tightrope walk in the context of two important changes in US policy towards Iran: the change to the Obama administration and the Iranian elections and power struggle. Akkoyunlu explained that Turkey is trying to take advantage of the softer approach of the US towards Iran. Turkey is likely thinking ‘Can we get away with this?” According to Akkoyunlu, the answer is a gamble. No one knows how the US will react. Regarding Özel’s presentation on Turkey-Israeli relations, one audience member asked about the differences between the Islamists and secularists in Turkey with respect to their attitudes towards Israel, and enquired if the Turkish Islamists too often confuse anti-Zionism with anti- Semitism? In response, Özel pointed out that there are very few issues that bring Turkey’s secularists and Islamists together, and that one of those issues is their dislike for Israel. Finally, an audience member asked Abou-El Fadl how she would evaluate the position of Egyptian Islamists towards Turkey. She responded that Muslim intellectuals look on the AKP favourably. They are interested in the pragmatic, harmonious connection with Islam that the AKP created. Yet for Abou-El Fadl, to improve relations in general, Turkey and Egypt need more than diplomatic dialogue. They need a debate beyond the elite level. From left to right: (Front row) Othon Anastasakis, Margaret MacMillan, Ahmet Davutoglu, Mehmet Yiğit Alpogan (Second row) Nora Fisher Onar, Kalypso Nicolaidis, Ayse Kadioglu, Max Watson Mehmet, Karli (Back row) Bulent Aras, Elaine Papoulias, Kerem Oktem, Jane Caplan 39
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