8/13/2019 Erdogan Visits Egypt Tunisia and Libya
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Erdoan visits Egypt, Tunisia and Libya
Looking for a translator from English to French (S.H. ready?).
Thanks for your help
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The visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan to the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been an
immense popular success. Over the last three years his image has
changed tremendously. His popularity and
respect have increased for many different reasons: he has been
elected and reelected and even his opponents -
despite their criticisms - have acknowledged his competence and
the effectiveness of his government; Turkey is
improving both at home and abroad: less corruption, better
management, less conflict and a strong economy (17th in
the world today). After having tried hard to integrate into the
European Union (EU)and after facing ongoing European
reluctancethe Prime Minister wasted little time in launching a
multidimensional foreign policy directed towards the
South (Africa, Latin America) and the East (China, India,
Malaysia, etc.). The "zero-conflict" strategy promoted by
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolu has had a visible and positive
impact. On the domestic front, the new role assigned
to the army has helped the current government strengthen Turkish
democracy.
But it is not for these good reasons that Prime Minister
Erdoan's image has changed in the MENA. On January 29,
2009 in Davos, he stood up and left the room while debating with
Israeli President Shimon Perez. Erdoan was
reacting to the massacre in Gaza and expressing his opposition
and revulsion. The great majority of Arab
governments had been silent; Mr. Erdoan was perhaps the first
and the only major political personality to translate
the feelings of Arabs and Muslims into a symbolic and media act:
the Israeli policy that killed innocent civilians was
appalling and he dared to say it politely but powerfully. This
was a turning point: the Turkish Prime Minister signaled
that he was a truly independent leader listening to both the
Turkish and the Arab streets (even though Turkey's
extensive economic and diplomatic relations with Israel are an
open secret).
One and a half years later, when the Israeli commandos attacked
the Freedom Flotilla in international waters and
killed nine Turkish peace activists, Mr. Erdoan was once again
quick to react: he asked for an official apology and
has held the same position up to the present. Turkey then
expelled the Israeli ambassador (and lower-rank
diplomats) and suspended its substantial military ties with
Israel, demonstrating that this was no longer a conflict of
symbols but that he was ready for a diplomatic showdown. Arabs
and Muslims looked on with amazement and
admiration. Finally, in Cairo, he reminded his hosts that
recognition of a Palestinian State at the United Nations
General Assembly in September, "is an obligation not an option,"
adding to his symbolic and psychological power.
Not only is Mr. Erdoan a successful Prime Minister leading his
country towards political transparency and economic
autonomy, he is also the champion of the international
Palestinian cause. He warns: "Israel cannot do whatever it
wants in the Mediterranean Sea" as Turkey's navy "will step up
its surveillance" in the area. The message could not
be more explicit.
His visits to Egypt and in Tunisia must be seen against this
overwhelmingly positive background and dramatically
increased stature. We must also add that the Turkish Prime
Minister was one of the first to pay tribute to the people
who demonstrated again the dictators. Early on he called upon
Ben Ali and Mubarak to quit and to accept the will of
their people. From the very beginning, he has defended the rule
of law, transparency and democracy and the
Tunisian and Egyptian protesters heard his voice. Now, he is
visiting MENA in full confidence: he was on the right
side of History and he has remained consistent throughout the
ongoing crisis. Palestinians deserve an independent
and democratic State as much as the Tunisians, the Egyptians,
the Libyans and all the Arab and Muslim majority
countries. His call to both the secular and the Islamist trends
to go beyond the current fruitless debates that separate
them and to opt for a democratic civil State is very powerful
and precisely to the point.
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8/13/2019 Erdogan Visits Egypt Tunisia and Libya
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Erdoan visits Egypt, Tunisia and Libya
Recep Tayyip Erdoan is intimately familiar with the substance of
the current debate, coming as he does from an
Islamist tradition and dealing with secular resistances in
Turkey: he knows that these debates are nothing but
ideological traps. What is of prime importance today is to agree
on basic democratic principles, to work for
transparency and for the respect of the popular will while
making sure popular uprisings cannot be hijacked by
religious dogmatic trends, new secularist despots, or
still-powerful armies . It is high time to move on from useless
ideological debates to effective policies and implementation:
being a Muslim does not prevent us from being
democrats and to combine ethics with politics in a pluralistic
manner.
The Turkish Prime Minister knows that democracy will not be
secured without economic stability. The United States,
the European countries (with Cameron and Sarkozy visiting
Libya), the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) are competing to conquer markets and to exert some
control over future regional development. Mr.
Erdoan is visiting the region with an impressive delegation: 200
businessmen intent on improving economic ties and
signing contracts (oil, telecommunications, transports,
services, education, etc.). It is obvious that Turkey has
ambitions and that it seeks a heightened international role. In
a new multi-polar world such a role is to be welcomed.
As we look at the global economic order, we are witnessing a
shift towards the East. Not yet a guarantee of more
democracy and international justice but hope at least for a
better-balanced world. Turkey can and must play an
important role if the Turkish Prime Minister and his government
remain true to their principles both at home and
abroad. Let us hope Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other Arab and
Muslim majority countries will study the Turkishexample (its
successes as well as its setbacks) and join in the dynamic. This
would mean the emergence a pole of
newly democratic countries helping to reconcile Muslims with
confidence, autonomy, pluralism and success.
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