The political regime of a country, not just for Turkey but also for other Western countries, is not the only criterion in bilateral relations.

- 18 / 08 / 2008 11:17

Ilter Turkmen

During the Soviet era our biggest neighbor was Russia. Following the Cold War, Iran has become the one, but for not having a common border with Russia, at least for now. So it is not odd to follow a somewhat more open policy towards Iran, maybe even more open than towards the United States and the European Union.

  The political regime of a country, not just for Turkey but also for other Western countries, is not the only criterion in bilateral relations. But of course Iran's being a Shiite fundamentalist state is the reason for conflicts in some sensitive issues. An example is that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not pay a visit to Atatürk's Mausoleum, Anıtkabir, during a trip last week.

  In early 1980s a new Iranian ambassador was appointed to Ankara when I was the foreign minister. The day before the new ambassador presented his letter of confidence to the Turkish president, protocol officials had informed us that the ambassador refused to visit Anıtkabir. I invited him over and the following conversation occurred between us:

  “You will present the letter of confidence to the president tomorrow. Will you not?” “Yes.”

   “All right and then you will visit Anıtkabir, will you not?”

  “No, I will not.”

  “Then you should pack your bag and go to the airport because you are returning to Tehran.”

   “All right I will visit Anıtkabir.”

  The problem was solved then. But I did make a mistake too. I let him to sign the guest book at the mausoleum and he jotted down some inappropriate things.

  I don't know how the new Iranian ambassadors are acting now. But former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani did not pay a visit to Anıtkabir during a trip to Ankara in 1996. Because Rafsanjani set the precedent, Ahmadinejad could have been welcomed in Ankara and at least Istanbul would not have suffered a traffic jam for two days; besides, this trip would have been more affordable. It seems that the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government and Mr. President Abdullah Gül felt more sensitive over the issue.

 A flawless visit for Ahmedinejad

  Undoubtedly, the visit was flawless for Ahmadinejad. First of all, this visit took place as the United Nations considers additional sanctions against Iran and it was realized despite the reservations of the United States and despite the Iranian uranium enrichment program. Plus, there are quite a number of people in Turkey who found him sympathetic and charismatic. Moreover, an agreement was signed for cooperation in fighting organized crime, drug trafficking and terror. But unfortunately the energy agreement, the top agenda item, was not signed. We know that the remarks Ahmadinejad made suggesting it could be signed soon are extremely optimistic.

  The purpose of this deal is to make the transfer of the Türkomen natural gas to Europe via Turkey possible and allow Turkey to explore natural gas in the Persian region. But Iran, as Turkey wishes, does not agree to share the gas to be found here. Iranians insist on signing a service agreement with Turkish companies. This is the real reason why the energy deal was not signed. The U.S. disturbance over this visit is not the issue. Under today's circumstances, it will be impossible to bring the Nabucco project to life to transfer gas to Europe if Iran does not allow the flow of some more amounts. Besides, it is not clear yet whether or not the EU countries will agree on gas transfer from Iran via the Nabucco channel. Energy companies in the EU countries, except Austria, have already left Iran.

  During the talks with Ahmadinejad, the Iranian nuclear program definitely must have been mentioned. Given that the EU is active on the subject, it is not expected for Turkey to take a pivotal role in the same issue. However if we are elected to U.N. Security Council membership, we will have difficulty in voting sessions about the Iranian issue.

  In short, Turkey's Iran policy is on the mark and it should be maintained without dreaming much about and falling for traps.