Davutoğlu discloses achievements of ‘month of peace October’

On Saturday, speaking to reporters on board a plane returning to Turkey from a landmark visit to the Iraqi Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Davutoğlu disclosed an “inventory” of Turkey’s foreign policy acts during the last month.

Recalling that in mid-October Turkey and its southern neighbor Syria removed visa requirements and “symbolically” abolished the border between them, only days before a landmark prime ministerial level visit to Iraq during which the two countries signed 48 bilateral agreements, Davutoğlu said his visit to Basra came after these developments.

“You have seen the pleased expression on the Basra governor’s face,” Davutoğlu told reporters, adding that while in Mosul, the governor of that city told him that he was the first-ever foreign minister to have visited.

“Two years ago, if someone had said the foreign minister and the minister for foreign trade would pay a visit to Arbil to hold such comprehensive talks there, nobody would give much credence to such a possibility,” Davutoğlu continued, expressing pleasure over the hospitality Turkish delegation received in Arbil, the capital of the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

According to Davutoğlu, the reason for such hospitality is Turkey’s constructive approach, which doesn’t start the conversation by enumerating problems, but instead starts with explaining its vision concerning the Middle East.

“We say we have to realize this joint vision. There is a problem that poses a threat to this vision, and let’s resolve this problem together; that’s what we say,” he said, referring to the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. “Thus, we’re not talking about a crisis or resolving a crisis; we’re talking about realizing a vision. That’s why we have been able to create an environment of confidence with the language of diplomacy.”

In addition to the consulates general ope-ned in Mosul and Basra during his visit, Turkey is also planning to open consulate generals in Kirkuk and Arbil, the minister also said.

From the Balkans to the Caucasus

Also in October, on the sidelines of a ministerial-level meeting of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the chairmanship-in-office of which is currently held by Turkey, Davutoğlu brought together Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and his Bosnian counterpart, Sven Alkalaj. This was shortly followed by President Abdullah Gül’s visit to Serbia, becoming the first Turkish president to pay an official visit to Serbia since 1986.

All of these acts were within the framework of a “Balkans peace action,” Davutoğlu said, while underlining Serbia’s declared willingness for having strategic cooperation with Turkey in the Balkans and its request for Turkey’s contributions not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Kosovo and Sandzak.

Last week, Turkish-Azerbaijani ties, strai-ned over a historic Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, have shown further signs of recovery as Azerbaijani authorities raised Turkish flags at a monument to fallen soldiers, days after removing them amid political tensions. The tension followed the signing of two protocols between Armenia and Turkey for re-establishing ties and reopening their border, leading to Baku’s concern that it would lose its main leverage in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue if Turkey reopens its border with Armenia.

When the problem with Baku first emerged, many commentators drafted “disaster scenarios,” Davutoğlu said, noting, however, that tension was eased after Turkey and Azerbaijan reached a mutual understanding via face-to-face talks during a visit to Baku.

“Consequently, there has been no loss of friendship with Azerbaijan, and there will be no such loss, while protocols have been signed in the Caucasus with Armenia,” Davutoğlu added.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Pakistan during which opposition leader Nawaz Sharif attended a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Erdoğan’s honor; Erdoğan’s visit to Iran, the main theme of which was a frank dialogue; and Ankara’s focus on the Cyprus issue were other highlights of October recalled by Davutoğlu.