Turkey introduces ’regional ownership’ to Afghan agenda

Ultimately, following several international occasions, the importance of regional ownership was fully embraced by the international community at a landmark conference held in Kabul last week. Turkey's focus on regional ownership stems from an understanding which asserts that any progress in Afghanistan can only become long-lasting on positive regional ground. “This understanding maybe constitutes the first example of reflecting experiences we have gained through our active foreign policy on more distant geographies in an efficient and visionary way,” a senior Turkish diplomat told Today's Zaman.

Ankara considers the July 20 Kabul Conference a milestone for promoting dialogue and harmonizing civilian and military strategies towards a vision for Afghanistan. The conference was crucially important in and of itself because for the first time a conference in Afghanistan, on Afghanistan led by the Afghan government, decided the policy agenda for governance and development over the next few years with support from the international community.

“Participants noted the importance of regional cooperation for prosperity, peace and stability and applauded the recent joint efforts of Afghanistan and its regional partners to combat terrorism -- by ending support, sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorists from wherever they are -- and the drug trade, increase stability, enhance regional economic cooperation and employment opportunities and address Afghan refugee issues.

Participants reaffirmed their support for the objectives and principles laid out in the Kabul Declaration of 2002 on Good Neighborly Relations -- in particular the shared determination to defeat terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking -- on the basis of mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. Participants further recognized the need for greater regional coordination and extended their support to the inclusive vision set out in the İstanbul Statement on Friendship and Cooperation in the ‘Heart of Asia’ of January 2010, which offers regionally-owned measures for enhanced regional cooperation,” says the 21st article, under the title of “Regional Cooperation,” of the communiqué released following conference.

Thus, it is possible to say that the regional cooperation involving Afghanistan will from now on be based on two documents, one being the Kabul Declaration of 2002 on Good Neighborly Relations and the other the more updated İstanbul Statement on Friendship and Cooperation in the “Heart of Asia” of January 2010.

The statement was referenced earlier by the London Communiqué released after an international conference on Afghanistan held in London in January 2010 -- only days after the regional conference in İstanbul -- UN Security Council Resolution 1917 and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Foreign Ministers’ Council Resolution adopted in Dushanbe in May 2010.

“The İstanbul Statement has been taken note of as a basic document which puts forth the concept, language and framework for regional cooperation around Afghanistan,” Burak Akçapar, deputy director general for South Asia at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, told Today’s Zaman, while recalling those references.

“Looking into the vision that Turkey adopted in the South Asia, it is possible to see traces of experiences of regional cooperation that we have gained through processes in Europe and the Euro-Atlantic and in neighboring regions, and [to see] Turkish diplomacy’s ability to create synergy between different regions and cultures,” Akçapar told Today’s Zaman.

Principles of “transparency, efficiency and complementariness” lie at the core of Turkey’s efforts regarding Afghanistan -- both in regards to “conceptualization and operationalization.”

The 25th article of the communiqué refers to the fact that Turkey will host the fourth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in the autumn of 2010, following parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in Afghanistan on Sept. 18.

“Participants look forward to the next RECCA and the concurrent business-to-business meeting, which will focus on regional economic connectivity and enhanced cooperation. Participants recalled the existence of various processes aimed at contributing to enhanced cooperative ties among regional countries, including, among others, trilateral summit processes among neighbors and regional partners. The Afghan Government and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) welcomed the forthcoming high level meetings of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey, including the ‘İstanbul Forum’ meeting in Kabul. They also welcomed the trilateral meetings of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and supported this trilateral initiative to include neighboring countries of Afghanistan,” it says.

There is a noteworthy development regarding Turkey’s involvement in regional cooperation on Afghanistan on a broader scale: During a meeting of the Regional Bodies on Afghanistan held in Kabul on July 19, Turkey became a member of the high-level Core Group comprising the secretaries-general of relevant regional organizations and UN agencies.