Turkey’s objections to the military intervention in Libya reflect the difficulties of balancing its traditional role within Nato with its aspirations to be a regional power.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has won influence in the Arab world by asserting Ankara’s independence from the west: refusing to aid the US invasion of Iraq, lambasting Israel, and opposing UN sanctions imposed on Iran last year.
“Turkey will never, never be the side pointing weapons at the Libyan people,” he told his party in a televised speech on Tuesday, reiterating concern that the French-led actions had gone further than the UN mandate for a purely humanitarian operation.
“This kind of operation brought no benefit in the past. They led to loss of life and turned into an occupation,” he added, making clear reference to Iraq.
Turkish concern at civilian casualties has been compounded by public perceptions of the operation as a western grab for oil and by its commercial interests. Thousands of Turkish workers remain in Libya, even after mass evacuations, and many businesses are keen to return.
France’s failure to include Turkey in Saturday’s summit also provoked fury in Ankara, where Nicolas Sarkozy is already hated for opposing Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. One diplomat called Paris’s actions “trigger happy”, while the defence minister, Vecdi Gonul, said it was “impossible to understand France being so far in front”.
Yet Ankara appears unlikely to block Nato’s taking-over of enforcement of the no-fly zone, provided that the alliance’s role is more stringently defined and that there is no question of any ground invasion or subsequent occupation.
“Probably we will go along with it. But we want to know exactly what the endgame is?.?.?.?and how to enforce the things that everyone wants,” a senior diplomat said, adding that the continued support of the Arab League would also be important.
“Turkey can’t afford to be seen as the country single- handedly blocking Nato’s involvement,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat running a think-tank in Istanbul, noting suspicions of Turkey’s intent to abandon its western alignment. “But Turkey will use its influence in Nato.”
Turkey has made clear it will offer humanitarian assistance and not participate in any military strikes.
But one foreign diplomat said it was still possible that Ankara might help enforce an arms embargo or even the no-fly zone, provided that did not involve any offensive action.
The White House said Mr Erdogan had spoken with Barack Obama on Monday, agreeing on the need for “a broad-based international effort, including Arab states, to implement and enforce the UN resolutions, based on national contributions and enabled by NATO’s unique multinational command and control capabilities to ensure maximum effectiveness.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has won influence in the Arab world by asserting Ankara’s independence from the west: refusing to aid the US invasion of Iraq, lambasting Israel, and opposing UN sanctions imposed on Iran last year.
“Turkey will never, never be the side pointing weapons at the Libyan people,” he told his party in a televised speech on Tuesday, reiterating concern that the French-led actions had gone further than the UN mandate for a purely humanitarian operation.
“This kind of operation brought no benefit in the past. They led to loss of life and turned into an occupation,” he added, making clear reference to Iraq.
Turkish concern at civilian casualties has been compounded by public perceptions of the operation as a western grab for oil and by its commercial interests. Thousands of Turkish workers remain in Libya, even after mass evacuations, and many businesses are keen to return.
France’s failure to include Turkey in Saturday’s summit also provoked fury in Ankara, where Nicolas Sarkozy is already hated for opposing Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. One diplomat called Paris’s actions “trigger happy”, while the defence minister, Vecdi Gonul, said it was “impossible to understand France being so far in front”.
Yet Ankara appears unlikely to block Nato’s taking-over of enforcement of the no-fly zone, provided that the alliance’s role is more stringently defined and that there is no question of any ground invasion or subsequent occupation.
“Probably we will go along with it. But we want to know exactly what the endgame is?.?.?.?and how to enforce the things that everyone wants,” a senior diplomat said, adding that the continued support of the Arab League would also be important.
“Turkey can’t afford to be seen as the country single- handedly blocking Nato’s involvement,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat running a think-tank in Istanbul, noting suspicions of Turkey’s intent to abandon its western alignment. “But Turkey will use its influence in Nato.”
Turkey has made clear it will offer humanitarian assistance and not participate in any military strikes.
But one foreign diplomat said it was still possible that Ankara might help enforce an arms embargo or even the no-fly zone, provided that did not involve any offensive action.
The White House said Mr Erdogan had spoken with Barack Obama on Monday, agreeing on the need for “a broad-based international effort, including Arab states, to implement and enforce the UN resolutions, based on national contributions and enabled by NATO’s unique multinational command and control capabilities to ensure maximum effectiveness.”
