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‘Turkey’s backdoor diplomacy advances human rights in region’
As an example, he mentioned Turkey’s relations with Iran, Hamas and Sudan. He also added that human rights are an important factor in Turkish foreign policy and that they are critical of some countries. However, these opinions are not expressed publicly out of concern that relations may be jeopardized.
On his way back to Ankara from a two-day visit to Egypt, Davutoğlu told a group of Turkish journalists that Turkish involvement and engagement had been requested to ensure NGOs were able to work in Sudan.
Turkey has been criticized for its relations with Sudan and especially as its president, Omar Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court over the atrocities in Darfur. In November Bashir was invited to Turkey for a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) but later canceled the trip.
Sudan expelled aid agencies after charges were brought against its president, but some of them were allowed to return after a couple of months. Davutoğlu did not give the details but hinted that upon the request of the some Western countries, Turkey had ensured the return of the NGOs to Darfur.
Davutoğlu also added that for humanitarian reasons Turkey’s diplomatic activity had been conducted in secret several times.
Diplomatic sources indicated that Turkey intervened for the release of Clotilde Reiss, a French academic who was arrested during the demonstrations after the controversial presidential elections in Iran in June. Ankara also contributed to the release of five Britons who were detained by the Iranian navy in December while sailing a yacht from Bahrain to Dubai for a race.
Davutoğlu also underlined that Turkey is critical of countries and the groups that it has connections with regarding their human rights violations.
“Of course we tell our counterparts the importance of being respectful of human rights. But we don’t do it in public; this is a requirement of sincerity,” he said.
He added that sometimes opposition groups or leaders from different countries meet in İstanbul and have contact with Turkish officials who relay the message that “nothing can take place in Turkey which might harm you, but you have to tolerate opposition.”
“Those countries are also sure about our good faith and have full confidence in our message. We know how best to distinguish respect for human rights from terrorism,” he said.
He added that when Turkey became a member of the United Nations Security Council, the very first order he gave to officials was to participate in all the meetings concerning human rights at the UN.
“I said that we should talk about human rights as a priority. We cannot have any hesitation on this issue,” he underlined.
‘We’re involved with inter-Arab conflicts’ Foreign Minister Davutoğlu added that in the past Turkish foreign policy preferred to remain at a distance from the inter-Arab conflicts, a policy that may have been reasonable in the past, but not any more.
“We sometimes step into inter-Arab conflicts because we know that sometimes tension between two countries might affect stability in the whole region and lead to further regional problems. Our intercession is not considered interference from the outside; it is perceived as mediation from within. Sometimes Arab countries who seek to legitimize some of their policies try to get the backing of Turkey,” he said.
He gave the example of the planned meeting of Darfur donor countries taking place under the leadership of Egypt and Turkey. “Some Arab countries are against the timing of the meeting, but we were able to convince them,” he said.
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