Turkey’s decision to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s nuclear defense system is a sign of the country’s realignment with the West, says Professor Mustafa Aydın. As the government gives the message that it will continue to act with the West, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu announces the end to the country’s ‘zero problems’ foreign policy in his recent statement in Parliament, according to Aydın, the rector of Kadir Has University.
As NATO prepares to announce the completion of the first important phase of its ambitious nuclear missile defense system during the alliance’s Chicago summit this month, Turkey’s decision last September to host the early warning radar system for the shield has proved to be a turning point in the government’s relations with the West, said Professor Mustafa Aydın, the rector of Kadir Has University. Aydın is also the head of the International Relations Council, which has been organizing brain-storming meetings on security issues in several cities throughout Turkey on the occasion of Turkey’s 60th year of NATOmembership. By hosting the radars, “the government chooses its side. It gives the message to the world that Turkey will continue to act with the West,” he said.
Meanwhile with his recent statement that Turkey will lead the wave of change in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has announced the end of the “zero problems with neighbors” policy. “In the past Turkey used to say, ‘I am indifferent to who is in the government. I will be friends with everybody.’ Now it says, ‘I determine the people and administrations with which I will be friends and I will make sure they come to power in the government,’” Aydın told the Hürriyet Daily News.
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(Hurriyet Daily News, 14.05.2012)