DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

The la te st de ve lo pme nts re la ted to the de te nti on of
Tu rki sh offi ce rs and ge ne ra ls, cha rged wi th pre pa ri ng
a mi li ta ry co up, is the gro und for te sti ng the re la ti -
onship be twe en the ce nter and the pe ri phe ry, as we ll
as for so lvi ng the issue re la ted to ci vil co ntrol of the
mi li ta ry. Ho we ver, acco rdi ng to so me, the de te nti on
of the se offi ce rs and ge ne ra ls is a thre at to the co -
untry’s se cu la ri sm, and this wo rry de epe ned when Tu -
rki sh au tho ri ti es arre sted the sta te pro se cu tor who
had inve sti ga ted Isla mic ne two rks. The New Yo rk Ti mes
re po rts that the cri ti cs of Pri me Mi ni ster Erdo gan are
co nce rned be ca use wi th the se acti ons Erdo gan has si -
le nced the oppo si ti on, and now has co ntrol over mo -
st of the le ve rs of po wer, inclu di ng the ju di ci ary.
Erdo ga n’s cri ti cs are ve ry wo rri ed that the ju di ci ary
„wi ll so on fa ll to his Isla mic su ppo rte rs“. 17 Co mme nti -
ng on the la te st de ve lo pme nts, Pro fe ssor So li Ozel
from Bi lgi Uni ve rsi ty sa ys „The old ide olo gy is ba nkru -
pt, that much we know“, and ca re fu lly adds that Erdo -
ga n’s pa rty is “a de mo cra ti zi ng fo rce, but not
ne ce ssa ri ly a de mo cra tic one”. 18
Ba skin Oran, inte rna ti onal re la ti ons pro fe ssor at Anka -
ra Uni ve rsi ty, di smi sses tho se fe ars. In his opi ni on,
Erdo ga n’s pa rty, which once re li ed on wo rki ng class
and Isla mi sts, has go ne thro ugh a tra nsfo rma ti on. “It
has be co me bo urge ois,” Mr. Oran sa id, addi ng: “They
wi ll alwa ys be Mu sli ms, but they wo n’t be Isla mi sts.” 19
* * *
The thi rd and fo urth ele me nts in Da vu to glu ’s „stra te -
gic de pth“, „a new di plo ma tic la ngu age“ and „tra nsi -
ti on to a rhythmic po li cy“, do mi na te the rhe to ric of
Tu rke y’s Mi ni ster of Fo re ign Affa irs. The ru li ng AKP
has acce pted „stra te gic de pth“, amo ng other re aso ns,
be ca use of the fa ct that Da vu to glu ’s „new di plo ma tic
la ngu age“ fo rms a new/old ide nti ty thro ugh stro nger
ti es wi th co untri es Tu rkey sha res a hi sto ry wi th. It can
be sa id that this po si ti on is a co mpro mi se be twe en co -
nse rva ti ve and li be ral ci rcles in Tu rkey, but also that this
tu ned „rhythm“ in fo re ign po li cy co ntri bu tes to an
inte rnal de mo cra ti za ti on ne ce ssa ry for fu ll me mbe -
rship in the Eu ro pe an Uni on. On the other ha nd, re -
lyi ng on the Otto man ide nti ty impli es the de mi se of
Tu rke y’s sta tus as a „va ssal“ sta te in re la ti ons to the
USA, which wo uld pro vi de si gni fi ca nt co mpe nsa ti on
for the “Eu ro pe ani za ti on” of Tu rkey to the tra di ti onal,
pe ri phe ral ci rcles.
„Tra nsi ti on to a rhythmic po li cy“ re qu ires fre qu ent vi -
si ts to le ade rs in the re gi on, and this pre mi se has be -
en te sted wi th se ve ral vi si ts of Tu rki sh offi ci als to
Bo snia-He rze go vi na and Se rbia in 2009. In spi te of the
be st of inte nti ons, the vi sit to Bo snia-He rze go vi na was
not ve ry su cce ssful from the pu blic di plo ma cy pe rspe -
cti ve. This vi sit re qu ired mo re tho ro ugh pre pa ra ti ons
and mo re mo de ra ti on in sta te me nts, and in the abse -
nce of such pre pa ra ti ons, and be ari ng in mi nd the re -
la ti ons amo ng Bo sni an le ade rs and pa rti es,
co ntro ve rsi al re acti ons to Tu rke y’s di plo ma tic acti vi ti -
es we re fo re se ea ble.
Da va to glu ’s sta te me nts that „Sa ra je vo is ou rs“ and
“...we sha ll cre ate the Ba lka ns, the Ca uca sus, the Mi -
ddle Ea st, to ge ther wi th Tu rkey, the ce nter of the glo -
bal po li ti cs”, we re inte rpre ted by BH Pre si de ncy
me mber Ne bo j{a Ra dma no vi } as „a cla ssi cal exa mple
of inte rfe re nce into the inte rnal issu es of a co untry“,
and he co nclu ded that Da vu to glu „sho wed impe ri ali -
stic inte nti ons to wa rds the Ba lka ns“. 20
Due to a mo re mo de ra te appro ach, Tu rki sh di plo ma -
cy was far mo re su cce ssful in Se rbia. Se rbi an Pre si de -
nt Bo ris Ta di } se es Tu rke y’s di plo ma tic acti vi ti es
co mple te ly di ffe re ntly than Ra dma no vi }: du ri ng Tu rki -
sh Pre si de nt Abdu llah Gu l’s vi sit, Ta di } sa id that re la ti -
ons be twe en Se rbia and Tu rkey „we re at the hi ghe st
le vel in hi sto ry“. 21 This is, of co urse, due to the inte -
nsi fyi ng of eco no mic co ope ra ti on and the anno unce -
me nt of Tu rke y’s inve stme nts in Se rbia. It, the re fo re,
se ems that a Tu rki sh pu blic di plo ma cy in Bo snia-He -
rze go vi na empha si zi ng the new stra te gic fri endship wi -
th Se rbia and Ru ssia wo uld re su lt in far be tter effe cts
that a di plo ma cy re fe re nci ng the Otto man Empi re. Altho
ugh new We ste rn the ori es co nce de that of all
empi res thro ugho ut hi sto ry the Otto man had the be -
st mo del of mu lti cu ltu ral to le ra nce, in Se rbi an na ti onal
cu ltu re the Otto man era is se en as the da rke st, mo st
de te sted pe ri od of fo re ign ru le. 22
The exte nt to which myths can influ ence de ci si ons
which sho uld be ma de on a pra gma tic le vel is also illu -
stra ted by the di scu ssi on of which NA TO co nti nge nt
in Afgha ni stan sho uld Bo snia-He rze go vi na se nd its tro -
ops to. The be st offe rs ca me from Tu rkey, De nma rk
and the Gre at Bri ta in, and the mi ssi on offe red by Tu -
rkey is lo ca ted in the sa fe st area in Afgha ni stan and has
the le ast ri sk for Bo sni an so ldi ers. Du {a nka Ma jki }, de -
pu ty cha irwo man in the Ho use of Re pre se nta ti ves in
the BH Pa rli ame nt, is the only one who pu bli cly re -
acted to Tu rke y’s offer but acco rdi ng to uno ffi ci al re -
acti ons, for a si gni fi ca nt nu mber of Pa rli ame nt
me mbe rs re pre se nti ng Se rbi an na ti ona li st pa rti es, Tu -
rkey is una cce pta ble be ca use of hi sto ric pre ju di ce. 23
We ste rn di plo ma tic ci rcles in Sa ra je vo de emed such at-
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