BF-FieldManual-FEB13 -3.pdf - Bertelsmann Foundation

22%12%Turkey’s Main Trading Partners (2010)4%Ankara’s desire to be a regional playerand serve US interests in the regionmore broadly.4. Use stronger economic tiesas a positive motor for improvedTurkish-European andTurkish-American relations:While the volume and the nature oftheir trade with Turkey differ, bothEurope and the US would benefitfrom addressing obstacles to bettereconomic ties with Ankara. In the caseof the US, the government can focus onthe following steps: creating with theirTurkish counterparts a new bilaterallegal framework to spur investmentand help build trade; ensuring thatAmerican and Turkish trade strategiesconverge; facilitating greater businessdialogue and cooperation through new5% 9%6%EU Russia China US42%Iran Middle East & North Africa Rest of the WorldSource: European Commissionplatforms between Turkish and US firms;and instituting closer consultation at agovernment and business level to aimfor common views on issues on theG20 agenda. 38 Involving Turkey in theongoing US-EU free trade agreementnegotiations (which are of great interestto Ankara) could also benefit relationsbetween Turkey and the West.The consequences of arapprochement betweenAnkara and Tel Aviv wouldbe significant not onlyfor the region, but also forthe EU and the US.In regard to the EU-Turkey partnership,the US can encourage and supportefforts on both sides toward concessionsto ensure that the 1996 EU-TurkeyCustoms Union works more effectively,to boost trade, and to help improveatmospherics. In exchange for Turkeyfulfilling promises to remove technicalbarriers to trade in areas such as importlicenses and to guarantee enforcementof intellectual property rights, 39 the EUneeds to take firmer action to enforce the“Turkey clause”. 40 Despite that provision,many countries that have concluded orare negotiating free trade Agreements(FTAs) with the EU have refrained fromconcluding similar agreements withTurkey, as called for by the clause. 41Moreover, the US should encouragethe EU and Turkey to quickly define amulti-year roadmap that outlines boththe implementation of a “readmissionagreement”, under which Turkey wouldtake charge of illegal immigrants crossinginto the EU from its borders, and theeventual lifting of visa requirementsfor Turkish citizens in the EU. 42 Bothinitiatives should move in parallel, butas a first move the EU should considerliberalizing visa practices for Turks doingbusiness in Europe as a boost for trade.5. Promote Turkish-Armenianreconciliation, particularly atthe civil society level:Despite Turkey and Armenia’s failure toratify the October 2009 Zurich protocols,which involved an agreement to establishdiplomatic relations and open theirshared border, the EU and the US canwork in tandem to push forward theTurkish-Armenian normalization process.At the government level, the EU and theUS can encourage Ankara and Yerevanto cooperate on matters of commoninterest, such as emergency preparednessand heritage preservation, 43 and toexperiment with special openings of theirshared border for cultural or educationalexchanges. The trans-Atlantic partnerswill also need to plan ahead for thepotential political minefield of the 100thanniversary of the Armenian genocide in2015. Helpful measures to navigate thattense commemoration could include:avoiding any parliamentary legislationsin the US or Europe pertaining to thegenocide; supporting the establishmentof joint Turkish-Armenian historical6 2Turkey