In a private talk he held for a small audience in which I was included, a very influential figure in the devising of the AK Party's foreign policy said that the best response to the closure case filed against the ruling party with anti-democratic motives would be to pick up the pace in foreign and domestic policy as well as in the economy. To him, this is the best way to frustrate the treatment deemed befitting of the ruling AK Party, which is a service-oriented government.Following that talk, I followed the government's moves for a long time. It probably did not escape attention that the government proceeded with its policies at full speed after a brief period of confusion, despite the closure case. We can easily say that the government did not take a timeout in foreign policy, legislation-oriented domestic political moves and the economy -- despite the closure case, the Ergenekon investigation launched against coup attempts and terrifying acts of terrorism such as the recent attack on the US Consulate General, which it is agreed is closely related to both lawsuits. A foreign observer would probably have a difficult time believing that the government is run by a political party faced with the risk of being shut down by the Constitutional Court.
It is also observed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government he leads continue to realize their projects -- despite all the energy-draining and demoralizing formations like the Ergenekon terrorist organization and the negative impact of the closure case -- as if there were no closure case pending against them. Even though Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek stated after a Cabinet meeting on Monday that Turkey had been forced into a bottleneck, stuck between the Ergenekon case on the one hand and the closure case on the other, the government is continuing its journey at full speed despite the amount of blood it has been made to lose. Furthermore, the government, seeing the closure case as a waste of time, wants the case to be finalized as soon as possible and the closure case obstacle to be removed from Turkey's way, no matter what the ruling may be -- so much so that it is making efforts, even if the AK Party ends up being shut down, to prevent the current course from slowing, even in the form of breathing space.
The foreign, interior, economy and all other ministers are maintaining their efforts as if everything were normal. The government doesn't give the impression of a lame duck, particularly in its foreign policy. Steps of high strategic importance steps are being taken one by one. In this regard, we should mention the High-Level Council for Strategic Cooperation established between Iraq and Turkey during Erdoğan's recent Baghdad visit, which opened a new era in Turkish-Iraqi relations, and the crucial energy agreements signed during this visit that will further strengthen the Kirkuk-Yumurtalık oil pipeline as well as the Nabucco project.
We also have before us a Turkey that doesn't allow developments against itself to take place regarding the Union for the Mediterranean presided over by France. should note with appreciation the government's ability to protect the country's interests in foreign politics despite the closure case and all the devastating anti-democratic attempts. Under its current status, this formation, made up of 45 Mediterranean littoral states, has ceased to be an obstacle in Turkey's EU-membership prospects or an alternative to this prospect. While Sarkozy's initial plan has literally backfired, Turkey has managed to eliminate the dangers that could be posed by this plan.
We should also make mention of the mediating role assumed by the AK Party government in regard to regional problems. Having claimed a mediating and facilitating role between Syria and Israel, Israel and Palestine, and Pakistan and Afghanistan, Turkey is gearing up to assume another similar role to mediate between the West and Iran, targeted by the West because of its nuclear work.
Do you think such a government resembles one that has turned into a lame duck in the face of an undeserved closure case? Can you see any signs of that? To me, it doesn't look like a lame duck, and there are no clues suggesting that. Just the contrary, as the government official I mentioned above said, it is even possible to say that the government has geared up…
