Turkey, Gulf countries concerned over China unrest

Meeting in İstanbul's Ottoman-era Çırağan Palace, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait said in a statement after their meeting that the continuing reports of high tension and unrest were “alarming.” The statement that followed the ministerial meeting of Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also called for “restraint” and “measures to protect civilian life.”

Davutoğlu later met with Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, secretary-general of the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), to discuss the crisis in Xinjiang.

Some 156 people have died, according to official Chinese figures, in ethnic clashes in the wake of a riot on Sunday in Urumqi, the capital of the autonomous Xinjiang region. The OIC also expressed concern and in a statement on Monday warned Chinese authorities against excessive use of force.

Turkey and the Gulf countries primarily discussed prospects to expand cooperation in economic, political and defense areas in their two-day meeting in İstanbul. Turkish officials have emphasized that efforts to expand cooperation with the Gulf countries, which have problematic ties with Tehran, are not, in any way, meant to create a front against the Shiite state.

The statement said countries had the right to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but also called for a nuclear weapon-free Middle East. “The two sides reiterated the right of nations party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” the statement said. “The two sides reaffirmed their shared objective to pursue efforts for the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, including the Gulf.”

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (5th from L) stands next to ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the council's secretary-general, Abdul Rahman al-Atiyah (L), as they pose for a group photo in İstanbul's Çırağan Palace.

Turkey says an international dispute over Iran's nuclear program should be resolved through peaceful means. It supports Iran's right to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but opposes Tehran's acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Turkey wants to expand cooperation with the oil-rich Gulf countries and in 2008 signed a memorandum of understanding with the GCC to increase dialogue. Turkey's volume of trade with the GCC countries has increased eightfold since 2002, reaching $16.6 billion. Turkish construction companies are also increasingly active in the Gulf region; contractors have undertaken projects worth $16 billion in the past seven years, amounting to 19 percent of the total projects undertaken by Turkish construction companies around the world.

The statement said there would be further talks on cooperation in the field of energy, including oil, gas, renewable energy and mineral resources. The two sides also pledged continued discussions on a proposed joint venture for a railroad that would connect the Gulf countries with Turkey.

Turkish authorities also hope that a proposed free trade agreement would bring additional momentum to ties with the Gulf countries. Ministers reviewed the progress in the negotiations for conclusion of a free trade agreement and urged the negotiating teams “to intensify their efforts with a view to conclude the agreement as soon as possible within a timeframe to be agreed upon by the relevant authorities.”

On defense and military cooperation, the ministers agreed that further cooperation between the military and defense authorities of Turkey and the GCC countries should be encouraged.

In the field of education, the two sides agreed to take steps for the establishment of Turkish studies departments and Turkish language centers in GCC member states and Arabic studies departments and Arabic language centers in Turkey.

Turkey and the Gulf countries also called for an independent Palestinian state, saying peace in the Middle East was otherwise not possible. “Peace and security will not be achieved in the region without the establishment of an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it said, calling for an end to the Israeli policy of establishing new settlements on Palestinian territory.

The statement also expressed support for Turkey's accession into the European Union and called for a comprehensive settlement to establish a “new partnership of the two peoples in Cyprus, under the auspices of the good office mission of the United Nations … on the basis of well-established UN parameters.”

The next ministerial meeting of Turkey and the GCC countries will be held next year in Kuwait.