Could Davutoğluism have some compassion?

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=can-davutogluism-have-some-compassion-2011-01-28

Friday, January 28, 2011

While Tunusia’s revolution is still in the making, Egyptians have now begun taking to the streets for the last few days to let their dictator hear they have had enough. At this critical weekend, no soothsayer-expert of the region is able to predict whether President Mubarak will continue his hold on power.

United States President Barack Obama gave his much anticipated State of the Union Address this week, trying to spark a “Sputnik” moment to push Americans, citizens of the oldest living democracy in the world, to leap forward once more to take the lead. While China's rivalry worldwide has been giving U.S. confidence the jitters, the U.S. isolationists at home are making a comeback. Strengthened by the conservative Tea Party movement, whose members urge dramatic and rapid budget cuts, some members of the U.S. Congress who are identified with this movement are now calling on the White House to cut all U.S. foreign aid, in addition to slashing the budget of the State Department.

Whether it is because of the unbearable lightness of being a senator or leading congressman and having a considerable voice without any responsibility, or whether it is plain narrow-mindedness as far as international affairs are concerned, the U.S. isolationists seem to not understand that today’s world would neither allow the U.S. to withdraw from other parts of the world nor dominate them. Therefore, the only choice today left for U.S. is to find its regional partners around the globe to carry on its missionary approach in a way that its super power status continues at a manageable cost.

By the end of World War II in 1945, the U.S. was producing 35 percent of the world’s total goods and had an immense sway in all corners of the globe. Since then it has, for the most part, managed world affairs as an unchallenged leader – with the exception of the Cold War with the Soviets.

In 2011, with about $14 trillion of budget deficit and rising, along with two continuing wars, the U.S. is looking for many shoulders and brains to co-manage conflicts around world.

Since the beginning of Arab street revolts across the Middle East and North Africa, Washington has tried hard to strike a balance between President Mubarak, a U.S. ally three decades, and Egypt’s protesters. Washington, as usual, first took the Egyptian revolt cautiously, but shifted tone in the following days to signal openly that it takes no side. By Thursday, various spokespersons from the White House and the State Department were openly calling for political reform and promoting the inalienable rights of the Egyptian people.

While the U.S. administration is challenging Mubarak publicly, one must ask where Davutoğluism fits into the picture and what is hoped to be a ramping juncture for the Muslim world?

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s vision and pro-active policies are being discussed widely across the international spectrum, though Davutoğluism insistently shied away from articulating the manifestation of its universal values and democratic rights toward the Muslim and Arab worlds.

Davutoğluism ignored the Green movement, following rigged June 2009 elections, and ran to congratulate the Iranian leadership. Now it continues its merciless disengagement from what has been taking place in Tunusia and Egypt.

It is hard to comprehend why “energized” Ankara, which runs to get involved with almost every single political conflict in the region and has much to say about them, cannot produce a level-headed statement for the future of the Middle East. Is this the "wise city planning" Davutoğlu was talking about just a few weeks ago in Erzurum in front of Turkey’s ambassadors?

Without question, Turkey’s foreign policies display pragmatism rather than idealism when it comes to the surprisingly good relations with Russia, Iran or the newly found ally in the Kurdistan Regional Government. Increasing trade with the Arab world, mending a strategic alliance with energy-rich Azerbaijan and striving to reach out to the Turkic world in Central Asia, Davutoğluism offers many indications to skeptics that it has a mercantile fever in its blood, much more visible than an Islamist one, to become part of the Muslim East against the West.

Even though it has been almost a decade that Davutoğluism has been engineering Turkish diplomacy to lead a sort of independent-minded “non-aligned” posture, it has yet to manifest itself clearly how the ethical ingredients of this posture complement the rest, if there are any.

İbrahim Kalın, top foreign policy adviser to Erdoğan and one of the leading pupils of Davutoğluism, spoke at Seta Turkey’s inaugural Insight conference a month ago in Washington and once again failed to elaborate on the matter when he was asked about his administration’s moral leadership by saying that his administration does not believe that conveying such moral messages in public works best.

We might be at a critical time and great opportunity for followers of Davutoğluism to get out of this vicious circle of remaining emotionless toward the rapidly changing landscape of the neighboring region. A wide range of social networking websites and the active engagement of people are here to stay and promise to be part of a daily life.

Therefore, a significant opportunity lies ahead for Davutogluism to shift itself from its cold-blooded pragmatism, which seems to be reaching an atheistic level.  

It is becoming a shameful idleness for Turkey, as one of the oldest and best democracies in the Muslim world, for not having the courage to speak up for Muslim people’s universal rights, even though it seems to have enough moral authority when it is compared to its peers in the region.

The only reason that comes to my mind for the lack of attention on the matter is that the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP's, own insecurity when it comes to its record of promoting freedom of expression and assembly at home.

A couple of months ago when I asked Davutoğlu at a conference in Washington why Turkey's ranking continuously sinks every year in various indexes regarding the freedom of the press, his lack of preparation was crystal clear. Davutoğlu, a bright public speaker who never seems to have difficulty to astutely answer any foreign affairs questions, scrambled for a few minutes to construct a meaningful answer to my simple question, and concluded by saying “once we have established a code of conduct ... [and] we have established principles of freedom of expression, we will have a much better situation than today. We need to work together. I don’t say we don’t have any problem, but we have to understand the source of the problem as well, in all senses.” In his long remarks, Davutoğlu argued that the administration and media, as two parties, should sit and talk together to improve the freedom of the press in Turkey.

Instead, sharp witted Davutoğlu should have known that freedom of expression is a natural and universal right that is bestowed upon every human being when his or her life begins and it is not a matter up for negotiation, nor a gift that can be given by authorities.

Some of us are lucky to find it effortlessly, thanks to those who came before us and fought the fight, and some of us not, as is happening in Egypt, and they take the matter of creating their own and future generations' destiny into their own hands.

Once the inherently poisonous flavor of freedom is tasted there is no going back.

That is why, no matter how dangerous it is, it would be best for the Egyptian rulers to ride on this beast of freedom, not look for ways to foolishly block it.

Followers of Davutoğluism should also ride on the beast, both at home and abroad, if they are serious about becoming an indispensable force in the region’s future.

 

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Guest - heimeve 2011-01-31 20:28:40		Egypt's anti-government protests are continuing to intensify, with organizers planning a "march of millions" for Tuesday. democracy win in Egypt with or without support from turkish friends!!!

Guest - Newyorker 2011-01-30 18:25:45		It is very obvious why the AKP and Davutoglu do not support the democratization process in North Africa. They do not believe in it. They have more in common with the Mubarak government than they would care to admit.

Guest - Shocked 2011-01-30 00:53:24		What a shocker this guy Does he not realise that the oldest living .whatever this means .democracy in the world is the United Kingdom Of Great Britain The USA or America slowly became a democracy in the middle late 1700 s . All the immigrants in America from that time will be proud of you the Greeks Italins Pols Irish Scots Russians Japs south americans Turks etc etc

Guest - Yaacov 2011-01-29 21:58:33		Davutoglu is a one issue spokesman, like most in the AKP party. If a nation has an Islamic government it can do no wrong. That's why the AKP rarely if ever speaks out against any Arabic nation, no matter how oppressive they are. Davutoglu is a fool.

Guest - prometheus 2011-01-29 19:52:14		Neo ottoman is the term the narrative crafters label the FM in the Azeri/Armenian conflict,Kurdish issue, shuttle diplomacy arena, etc... Join the EU, after the the SPIG Countries collapse in the murky debt ratings game(IMF show has and perhaps will revisit Turkey:). MY favorite expression from this tripe is"missionary approach", this reflects the authors ignorance of America's Protestant Proselytizing Propaganda Past, the demur missionaries are at risk send in the military Daddy!!! Most problems experienced in Turkey come from milirtary smackdowns courtesy of post Ataturk DEEP STATE suck ups to the Western powers. Davutoglu has probably read Escape From Freedom, has this blogger?

Guest - Antifon 2011-01-29 15:11:31		Very good article. ""It is becoming a shameful idleness for Turkey, as one of the oldest and best democracies in the Muslim world, for not having the courage to speak up for Muslim people’s universal rights, even though it seems to have enough moral authority when it is compared to its peers in the region."" Best democracies in the Muslim world perhaps! But certainly not a democracy. A quick look at your constitution should be enough. The real reason Turkey abstains from events in N. AFrica is not economics. Its her own internal politics she is concerned with!"

Guest - Oz_man 2011-01-29 07:54:34		Ilhan this is a great article. You have asked serious question to the Foreign Minister which other journalists would not have bothered to ask or though of to ask. Instead of focusing on allegations of Islamisation the question asked is why the AKP is not pushing for more Democracy in the Arab world and Islamic world after all AKP has benefited from votes received from the people. The answer is because if it does it will aleniate the regimes in the Gulf and will feel threatened which can have an effect on the Turkish economy. This might be a bit harsh but this is the reality. A home grown movement for Democracy is the ultimate way for people power rather than a Democracy imposed from the outside for example Iraq.

Are the Istanbul nuclear talks a final chance?

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=is-the-istanbul-nuclear-talks-the-last-chance-2011-01-14

Friday, January 14, 2011

The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, or P5+1, group will meet with an Iran nuclear delegation next week in Istanbul and that rare window of opportunity might let us see what Iran plans to do going forward.

Over the week, I talked to more than half a dozen United States officials and Iran experts and read tens of commentaries about the expectations of the Istanbul talks next week. This week, varying views over the effectiveness of sanctions have been joined by confusing articles, such as that of Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American religious scholar who frequently writes on Iranian politics, in which he asked how much we know about Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and whether he might be the “hidden” but real reformist, based on U.S. diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks.

U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary and spokesman Philip J. Crowley, also known as PJ, spent about 40 minutes with me this week to talk about current and future U.S.-Turkey relations.

I was certainly not expecting our interview to open any new chapters in relations, though neither was I expecting to hear any praise about Turkey’s diplomatic role in Iran’s nuclear program.

At least twice PJ “welcomed” Turkey’s new pro-active role in the region when I told him of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s remarks that the U.S. needs to adapt to changing Turkey. “Turkey is rightfully trying to put itself into a position from which it can strategically affect the events in the 21st century,” PJ said.

A retired colonel, like his wife, PJ talked about what he thinks about his job as going out to represent official U.S. foreign affairs policy to the world everyday. “I know that my words have meanings. When I speak about American policies I not only address the American people but also all other world governments. It is a global market and everybody has questions from different sides of the world,” he said. To stay on the top of what is going around the world PJ works from 5 a.m. till almost midnight and has found that his addiction to his Blackberry helps him keep up.

In the last several weeks there have been various estimates and reports published suggesting that Iran’s nuclear program has been severely hindered. For instance, Israel’s newly retired spy chief Meir Dagan reported that Iran would not be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015 because its nuclear program had been delayed by unspecified “measures” deployed against it, according to Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.

PJ, whether because of these serious and relieving estimations about when Iran could obtain nuclear capability, had a warmer attitude towards Turkey’s Iranian diplomacy and argued that Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Iran have played an important role in relaying the same message to Iran. “Work together with P5+1 and the IAEA. We may have differing views on how to reach this outcome but eventually there’s no difference between the U.S. and Turkey on what Iran should do,” PJ said.

While the U.S. and the West insist that sanctions are biting, from the beginning, Turkey said sanctions do not work in principle, and eventually opposed the U.N’s resolution 1921, a sanction package against Iran, when it came to the U.N. Security Council.

Reuel March Gerecht, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute headed by some of the world’s leading conservative figures, also said that sanctions have been increasing pressure on Iran during a recent phone interview. Gerecht said the Obama administration does not currently have a military strike option on the table, and is instead rallying around the sanctions to hurt Iran’s nuclear industry and its economy.

Gerecht articulated that concerns about Iran’s influence over Iraq are exaggerated, and that he also doesn’t believe there is any more for Turkey to do besides accommodating the talks. On the contrary, Gerecht expects Iraq to produce considerably more oil in the coming years to compete with Iran and help stabilize the oil market.

Michael Adler, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center who is currently writing a book on Iran’s nuclear diplomacy, also ruled out any kind of Turkish role for the P5+1 talks in Istanbul in during a recent conversation we had. “It was the Iranians who wanted the talks to be held in Istanbul, and Turkey was happy to do it. Other than hosting, Turkey is not part of the talks at all,” Adler said. “Turkey does not want to clash with the US administration again.” The final remark was an indirect reference to the Tehran Nuclear Reactor deal which left distaste in Washington, which Obama subsequently told Erdoğan about at a meeting in Canada.

While both experts give no chance to a military option anytime soon, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen avoided talking about Iran’s influence on Iraq when he was asked during a press conference. Even though I asked admiral, “how worried are you that Iran’s influence in Iraq” might be rising as U.S. troops are leaving there, he answered by saying, “I think you express a concern with respect to Iran’s influence in Iraq that is widely held in the region. In your country as well as other countries in the region.  That said, I’ve been very pleased with the outcome of the standup of the new government.  One of the things the United States said is that it had to be inclusive, and it is inclusive.”

While the highest U.S. military chief avoided talking about possible Iranian influence in Iraq, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to International Atomic Energy Agency, this week described the Istanbul talks the last chance “because by installing fuel rods produced by Iran in the core of the Tehran Research Reactor, probably parliament will not allow the government to negotiate or send its uranium outside the country and the Istanbul meeting might be the last chance for the West to return to talks."

When I relayed this message on to a senior U.S. State Department official on Wednesday morning, while clearly bothered by the tone of the message, the official stated: “I don’t know if it is the last chance, but we certainly expect Iranian officials are prepared to come to the table in a constructive fashion. Iran has to do more to answer our questions and cooperate with the IAEA fully. It is important to reiterate that it is Iran that continues to fail to meet its international obligations. This is not about the West, it is about Iran.”

The P5+1 meetings with Iran will be a significant event next week, following the fragile, thrilling political chess game going on in Lebanon. As it has been explained in detail by countless experts, the stakes in Lebanon are high and many state and non-state actors seem to have axes to grind and reasons to show off in this torn country.

I tried to decode Davutoğlu’s vision last week, in which I duly summarized what kind of diplomacy he has promised to the world. Ankara so far seems to be very active in the developing events in Lebanon and is surely aware that Lebanon could be a critical opportunity for Ankara to put its “wise” diplomatic skills to the test.

 

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Guest - where is North America! 2011-01-15 22:06:38		Quote:"Even though I asked admiral, “how worried are you that Iran’s influence in Iraq” might be rising as U.S. troops are leaving there, he answered by saying, “I think you express a concern with respect to Iran’s influence in Iraq that is widely held in the region. In your country as well as other countries in the region. That said, I’ve been very pleased with the outcome of the standup of the new government. One of the things the United States said is that it had to be inclusive, and it is inclusive.” From this we can tell US is worrying Iran influences,Admiral didn't give Mr. İLHAN TANIR direct answer,that confirmed their worries.They are US,the only DECLINING super power,Just remember Bush said:WITH US or AGAINST US! Phew.....what a cocky cowboy,used to be! Look,US is choosing Against World(Russia,China,Turkey,Iran,the MiddleEast and so on.) well done,Just push yourself harder to every corners,Finally you will realise we are on the another side of hemisphere,call North America.

Decoding Davutoğlu’s softened vision of the next decade

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=decoding-davutoglu8217s-softened-vision-of-the-next-decade-2011-01-07

Friday, January 7, 2011

Nowadays, it is hard escape the name of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, let alone his policies, while discussing Turkey’s place in world politics with government officials and academics alike. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, whether one likes his vision of the present, future or even the past, occupies a considerable position among contemporary statesmen.

That is why, every once in a while, especially if it is the beginning of a new year or decade, it is tenable to give a grilling on the past and weigh in on expectations for the future. In that perspective, Davutoğlu’s series of major speeches in recent weeks, whether in Washington or Erzurum, in which Turkey’s third ambassadors’ meeting was held this week (Davutoğlu's speeches are available on the Turkish Foreign Ministry's website), have been very helpful in shedding light on Turkey’s new proactive role and its performance during the last decade.

It was Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Ankara, who first called Davutoğlu Turkey’s Henry Kissinger, a powerful U.S. statesman from the recent past. If nothing else, the similarity in both men’s style – especially in terms of interpreting history for their own countries and drawing parallels or creating assignments for the future – proves Parris right. Davutoğlu, in addition to applying countless historic references into Turkey’s future foreign policy vision, also uses them to legitimize those for new beginners.

For instance, Henry Kissinger, in his book of genius, “Diplomacy,” describes Ottoman Turkey as the weakest link but one that had to be protected against other major powers, therefore resulting in its survival for an extra two hundred years. In Davutoğlu’s paradigm, for the same reason, Turkey should not, or must not, be allowed to be designated the same passive actor like it was prior to World War I, in which Ottoman Turkey was used like a pawn by other great powers.

While narrating new Turkey’s story both to the world and its own citizens (which Davutoğlu says both need to hear), according to a Turkish political science professor who is a careful Davutoğlu observer, he also seems to be at ease with reconciling this narrative with Ataturk’s vision of a secular state. Davutoğlu finds Ataturk’s slogan “peace at home, peace in the world” perfectly coherent with the work of his administration as it seeks to prevent conflict around Turkey.

For Davutoğlu, in reality, 21st century international diplomacy started in 1989 when the Iron Curtain fell. Since then, Davutoğlu argues, a new phase continued into the next decade, in which the rest of the century will be structured by "city planners" like clear sighted wise men. Davutoğlu mentions the G20 as one of the most significant groups of this new decade and Turkey’s growing economy and clout in other countries’ economy as also playing an important role.

In that sense, not only classic diplomacy, but energy, climate and economic diplomacy will also have more sway in boosting a country’s influence in the international arena.

Davutoğlu is urging Turkish diplomacy to adjust to the new times and transform its identity from a simple or traditional firefighter, who only puts out fires when they occur, to a sort of “wise firefighter,” who can also sense upcoming devastation and preempt it from happening. Because it is a wise country, Turkey will not only “react” to events but will bring its own interpretation to problems. To do so, Turkey must be one of those city planners who will design the future, because, Davutoğlu argues, the planners of the last 200 years did a pretty bad job in terms of preventing fires.

During the speech, it was surprising to hear Davutoğlu cite the “flotilla attack” as one of those moments when Turkish diplomacy failed to live up to its potential role of being a “wise firefighter” in 2010.

Davutoğlu praised Turkish diplomats’ quick response to that particular event in the early hours of the crisis, but also said they acted in roles equivalent to mere extinguishers in the tragedy. In Davutoğlu’s rhetoric, the “flotilla incident” was given as a sample to prove what happens if and when Turkey does things unwisely.

Davutoğlu has been accused for sometime of being utopian in his ambitious characterization of Turkey’s real weight, portraying it as an ultimate mediator between East and West or North and South. He also had to endure criticism for his aspiring rhetoric which always seemed to disregard the manpower that his foreign ministry has vs. needs.

Obviously bothered by being called as “utopian,” or “dreamer,” in Erzurum, Davutoğlu not only used more of a down to earth kind of dialogue, but he also directly responded to those critiques, just like he did in Washington.  

Davutoğlu, in Erzurum, while emphasizing “integration” with neighboring countries big and small, argued that integration should happen on “equal” terms and affirmed that Turkey does not seek to dominate any country, but is working towards an “equal future.”

Davutoğlu also announced that number of Turkish diplomats currently reached 1868, almost a one third increase within just two year, but still third of that United Kingdom currently employs. To address understaffing issues effectively, the Foreign Ministry, in addition to increasing the number of diplomats, a series of legal changes to the Foreign Ministry’s organization law which were adopted by Parliament in last summer.

While drawing parallels with beginning of the 20th century, Davutoğlu sounded as if he expects that just like a hundred years ago the future will bring monumental changes that could potentially create new havoc around Turkey.  

The financial crises that started more than two years ago, according to Davutoğlu, still have the contingency to become social and political crises.

Since the Cold War ended so have the static alliances and Turkey must convert itself into a dynamic country. This is exactly what Turkey is striving to do, Davutoğlu concluded.

When looking back on 2010, Davutoğlu gave a pass to Turkish diplomacy. Turkey’s visibility has increased, Davutoğlu reminded us. Indeed, if we were to believe that “there is no bad advertising,” Turkey had a good PR year in terms of gaining more recognition.

In the beginning of a new year, and the dawning of a new decade, Davutoğlu’s vision seems to be somewhat softened and more adjustable to the real world in front of his first class diplomats. Davutoğlu sounded as though reconciled with Turkey’s secular past and Atatürk’s vision, rather than condescending toward neighbors while affirming that are all are on equal footing.

Until an opposition emerges that incorporates a vision that can compete with Davutoğlu’s interpretations of the past, present and future, Davutoğlu will surely remain a strong figure with the backing of a strong and stable administration.

Davutoğlu presented his arguments well enough to make most feel like his administration's rule would continue for a quiet sometime.

 

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Guest - canaroglu 2011-01-09 20:42:51		It is not a softened vision, just a better hidden/camuflated vision!

Guest - Paul 2011-01-09 20:05:05		It seems like Turkish leadership sees what it wants to see, not what is. Instead of spending its energy trying to portray itself an an important international actor (not regional bully), Turkey should focus its energy on itself and its own people to establish a more coherent, democratic society and the greater socio-economic development that comes from it. It should be open to the West, not fearful of it. I also believe Turkey can reach true greatness if it embraces the multiculturalism it inherited from its Ottoman past, instead of suppressing it.

Guest - Lion 2011-01-09 14:56:49		2steve who said " Your government DENIES OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE DAILY!!" What is the peace that Israel is denying? Israel has already agreed to a Palestinian state, unforunatlely the Palestinians have not agreed for a Jewish state to exist and this is the source of the conflict. I want to remind you that Israel gave 80% of its territories for peace with Egypt (a country 10 times larger than Israel), can you give a wise explanation of why not give additional 20% for peace...

Guest - Shalom 2011-01-08 19:54:22		@Steve.-Was it a fantasy when Turkey was the only country to bring together (albeit at low level) talks between Syria and Israel in Turkey. This was just before the change in attitude in the Turkish government. Even the Syrian president feels the loss of this mediation, and has stated how Turkey should not cut off relations with Israel if it wants to be an international player in the middle east. Israel has peace with Egypt, Jordan and many other Arab countries. Hopefully it is only a matter of time until there will be a full and final peace in the middle east. Many innocent and guilty people will die in the mean time until a wise old fire man appears who has the trust of all the players and can do what others cannot. At the moment he is nowhere to be found.

Guest - Shalom 2011-01-08 19:45:05		@Steve.-Was it a fantasy when Turkey was the only country to bring together (albeit at low level) talks between Syria and Israel in Turkey. This was just before the change in attitude in the Turkish government. Even the Syrian president feels the loss of this mediation, and has stated how Turkey should not cut off relations with Israel if it wants to be an international player in the middle east. Israel has peace with Egypt, Jordan and many other Arab countries. Hopefully it is only a matter of time until there will be a full and final peace in the middle east. Many innocent and guilty people will die in the mean time until a wise old fire man appears who has the trust of all the players and can do what others cannot. At the moment he is nowhere to be found.

Guest - ilker/cyprus 2011-01-08 18:39:47		To all the Israeli bloggers try reading your own newspapers about your own foreign minster Lieberman. The Haaretz newspaper etitorial calling for his sacking for calling the Turkish minster a Lier and Abbas a dictator and even criticising his own prime minster for talking peace with Abbas.Under the heading "To change Israel image abroad Lieberman must go". This guy is a complete Nut Job and is very dangerous with his Zionists views is only damageing Israel and the Israeli citizens should be very worried. Netanhayu has been warning of the dangers of the DELEGITIMZATION of Israel abroad. It appears Netanhayu wants to talk peace but Lieberman dont. He is at odds with his own PRIME MINSTER. Just like before he fell out with Sharon and then with Olmert this guy cant get on with anybody and is a war monger and to top it all he has access to 200 nuclear bombs so the world should be worried.

Guest - Steve 2011-01-08 18:22:14		@ Shalom: Your fantasy perplexes me, and I am sure many others -- you say: "If you were the wise old fireman [Davutoglu] you would have traveled to Israel, Gaza, Hebron, Syria and Lebanon and back and forth until you helped push through peace." . . . Are you really implying that the phenomenally intransigent and belligerent Israeli government would have found peace had Turkey tried harder? How crazy are you man! WE hear straight from your horse's mouths (the Modovian bar bouncer and the Yahoo) that ONLY Israel and the Palestinians can negotiate peace and everyone needs to stay the hell out of their business!!! Your government DENIES OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE DAILY!!! Best come back to earth -- the lack of oxygen has truly affected your mind ;-)

Guest - Yaacov 2011-01-08 17:14:25		They say all kids want to be Firefighters! Davutoglu is only expressing his heartfelt desire.

Guest - Shalom 2011-01-08 16:00:29		Davutoglu.--Too late. You and your PM far from being fire fighters, you sprayed gasoline on the Marmara . Being wise would have been to stop the militants in the convoy who have no interest in peace instead of inciting them and threatening Israel to let them thru. If you were the wise old fireman you would have travelled to Israel,Gaza,Hebron, Syria and Lebanon and back and forth until you helped push through peace. Using your influences to calm angers down,to persuade people to talk to each other. But you are not as wise as you think you are. In fact you have only added to the problems of the middle east.you are the only fire fighter to add fuel to the fire, and you are no longer seen as a moderate or an intermediary. What a shame , you missed the opportunity.

Guest - babadog 2011-01-08 05:12:40		Its not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog is a popular saying in the English language and how true it is.Thats why I would have Mr Ahmet Davutoglu fight my corner any time.He is a rare man of vision with a powerful analytical mind but above all he is determined and simply bursting with creativity and energy.He always smiles thats why hes a champion.Mr BB take note of the man who has given Turkiye its self respect back.

Guest - MARTIN 2011-01-08 00:41:47		Are we to understand that the FM takes responsability for the flotilla incident?Its high time!