Central Asia plays central role in Turkish foreign policy, Davutoğlu says

Turkey’s top diplomat was the only foreign statesman attending Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva’s inauguration ceremony Saturday, where he said Central Asia has never dropped from Ankara’s foreign policy agenda.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu denied claims that the government’s sole focus is on Arab countries.

“Those who argue this shall explain how many times they have visited these countries,” Davutoğlu told a small group of journalists traveling with him to Bishkek for Otunbayeva's inauguration.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government is under fire domestically and from abroad for its “one-dimensional” foreign policy. The opposition has argued that the government is ignoring relations with Central Asian countries.

New era for Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva’s swearing in as president ushered in what the turbulent Central Asian nation's government hopes will be a new era of stability and democratic freedoms. Speaking after her inauguration, Otunbayeva, 59, hailed what she described as a momentous new era for Kyrgyzstan, which has endured months of political and ethnic violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed in a bloody uprising in April amid widespread anger over falling living standards and rampant corruption. "In Kyrgyzstan, democracy is a system that has deep roots in the souls of the people," Otunbayeva told an audience of top government officials, diplomats and politicians. Over the course of her tenure as caretaker president, which lasts through the end of 2011, Otunbayeva will oversee the implementation a newly adopted constitution. The new founding law dilutes presidential powers in favor of a European-style parliamentary system and has raised hopes Kyrgyzstan could become former Soviet Central Asia's first true democracy. "As president, I will spare no effort in creating a new political culture based on strict adherence to the rule of law," Otunbayeva said in a speech interrupted periodically by bouts of rhythmic clapping from the audience. But before addressing some of her loftier ambitions, Otunbayeva will need to deal with the aftermath of ethnic clashes between majority ethnic Kyrgyz and the Uzbek minority last month, which left much of the southern city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city, a smoldering ruin. "I promise that before the onset of cold weather, the Kyrgyz government will provide housing for all those who lost the roofs over their heads," she said.

“Our plane will be the first to land in Bishkek following the unrest,” Davutoğlu said. “Turkey has become the closest country to Kyrgyzstan.”

Turkey sent humanitarian aid to the country during and after the unrest and helped reconstruct buildings destroyed during the fighting. On Saturday, Turkey pledged $10 million for technical assistance and another $10 million to implement common projects in the country.

Davutoğlu held meetings with top Kyrgyz officials and restated Turkey’s support for efforts to stabilize the country. “The referendum was very important. The people’s vast support for the change in the administrative system shows how eager they are for change. Now parliamentary elections are in sight,” he said.

With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Turkey launched a campaign to establish good ties with Central Asian countries. But apart from Azerbaijan, it was not successful in forging healthy ties.

“Now we have established a more functional policy toward these countries,” Davutoğlu said. The first principle is to help these countries strengthen their independence and to remain neutral during conflicts either between these countries or different groups in a single country, he said.

The second principle is to complete the process of institutionalization of relations between Central Asian countries. Initiated by Turkey in the mid-1990s, annual summits of Turkish-speaking countries were held but did not bear the expected results.

“Now we have the Council of the Turkic World. It also has a secretariat. A summit is scheduled for September,” Davutoğlu said.

Another target is to enable Central Asian countries to fully integrate with the international community through active roles in organizations. Recalling that Turkey supported Kazakhstan’s bid for term presidency of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, Davutoğlu said, “It could become the first term president in Eurasia.”

Despite Davutoğlu’s determination, because of administrations that are still under strong Russian influence, Turkey’s ties with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are not at the desired level.