Turkey and the Challenging Visitor

"States do not choose their neighbors. Geography does that for them, and when it does, neighboring states have no other choice but to search for a formula of coexistence, cooperation or integration." This is what a Turkish official said as Istanbul received a challenging visitor yesterday, namely Ahmedinejad. The Turkish official added that his country is receiving its guest without any illusions or big expectations. It is not sufficient for Ahmedinejad to visit Istanbul to create the impression that he has changed. The visions are divergent and the perspectives different. However, Turkey believes that offering Iran some assurances will ameliorate its fears over its regime and role.

The fact is that Istanbul's meeting yesterday was loaded with discrepancies. It was the first time, in which Ahmedinejad visited Turkey, although he already paid visits to all neighboring countries. In Turkey, carried out talks with a president coming from a party with Islamic roots, but a president ruling, nonetheless, under a secular constitution. In addition, the Iranian president was visiting a NATO member with all what this affiliation implies, both on the political and security levels. Besides, Turkey is a state that dreams of accession to the EU, with all democratic standards this implies in the areas of politics, culture, and human rights. Moreover, Ahmedinejad was visiting a state that maintains diplomatic and security ties with Israel, the "cancerous tumor" that Khomeini's Tehran wants eradicated. On top of this, Turkey is sponsoring indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria, which if successfully, will only bring an end to the current alliance between Damascus and Tehran.

Turkey knows it has a challenging visitor. The Bush administration was not happy to offer Ahmedinejad an Atlantic tribune, at a time of deliberations, between the six major powers, about means to impose additional sanctions on Tehran, because of its behaviors in its nuclear file. Israel, in turn, announced its disapproval over Turkey's reception of a president who denies the holocaust, preaches the end of the Jewish state, encourages the Jews to leave Palestine, supplies missiles to Hezbollah and makes no secret of his support to Hamas. Turkey is also aware of the fact that several states in Europe and the Middle East were not pleased to see Ahmedinejad making an appearance from Istanbul.

Two years ago, Ahmedinejad expressed his wish to visit Turkey. His fiery statements against the US and Israel did not facilitate Ankara's mission, as it evaluated the cons and pros of the visit. When Turkish officials chose to receive the difficult visitor, they suggested a meeting in Istanbul. It would have been difficult to receive him in Ankara, where senior visitors placed wreaths on the graveyard of the founder of secular Turkey, Ataturk. It would have been difficult for Turkish officials to tolerate Ahmedinejad if he violated the norm, and hence the choice went for Istanbul. The visitor to Istanbul hears that Tehran is overstating its military power to intimidate anyone who may be considering military action against it and that the US is overstating Iran's military power to intimidate Iran's neighbors. Among Turkish officials, there are those who believe that Iran is maneuvering at the verge of the abyss and that it may eventually accept guarantees for its regime, a regional role and an end to the isolation imposed on it. Those officials bet that Turkey can play a role in maturing the Iranian position if Arabs take a supportive position, because the war will be catastrophic for Iran and will be harmful for the region, as well as the global economy.

Turkey hopes to see the rise of Iranian realism above the remains of an approach that aims at exporting the revolution, undermining stability, and controlling strings in this state or that. It bets that Tehran will give up on its dream of regional leadership and that it will look forward to an Iranian-Turkish-Arab partnership in managing the affairs of the region. This is why Turkey supports the emergence of a strong and prosperous Iraq, while wagering, at the same time, on ending the Syrian-Israeli conflict, because success in both files would impose on the region new realities that will put the logic of partnership before the logic of confrontation. Ultimately, other Turkish motivations cannot be dismissed, such as Turkey's need for Iran's gas and its desire to have Iraq as its major economic partner in the next phase.

It was by coincidence that Ahmedinejad stayed at the same hotel I rent a room at. I heard a French tourist complaining about the difficulty of staying with Ahmedinejad, at the same hotel and the same time, because of the security measures imposed. I was overwhelmed by wicked thoughts as I almost asked him to wonder what it would be like for the people of the region who have to coexist with a difficult neighbor or a challenging guest.