by Areej Abuqudairi | May 13,2012 | JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — Turkey is reworking its foreign policy to play a much more active role in the region following the unrest prompted by the Arab Spring, academicians said on Sunday.

Speaking at the Third Arab and Turkish Dialogue Forum, Hassan Barari, a faculty member at the University of Jordan (UJ), said that the Arab Spring had forced Turkey to rethink its policy and look for alternatives in order to protect its national security.

“Turkey has recently changed its ‘zero problems’ policy towards the region and is aiming for stability in Syria. Stability in Syria, for Turkey, is a matter of national security due to the situation of the Kurds. Also, Turkey fears civil war in Syria due to the ethnic dimension of the conflict, which could invite intervention by others in the region such Iran or Saudi Arabia,” he said.

At the forum, Jordanian and Turkish academicians presented working papers shedding light on Turkey’s response to recent political developments in the region, especially the conflict in Syria.

Mehmet Akif Okur, a faculty member at Gazi University, said that Turkey should look at developments in the region through a regional lens rather than adopting a “national perspective”.

“Turkey should have a regional perspective on things. It should also be objective to some degree. Turkey should work on achieving regional dialogue between neighbouring countries in the region and encourage unity rather than listening to foreign powers,” he said at the forum.

“Turkey should encourage unity in the region so everyone has a voice. For example, we should ring Amman, Baghdad, et cetera — everyone in the region — instead of ringing Moscow and Washington first,” he added.

The annual forum, co-organised by the UJ’s faculty of international studies and Gazi University in Turkey, is aimed at encouraging cultural and academic exchanges between both countries. This year, the seminars were dedicated to examining Arab and Turkish relations in light of the Arab Spring.

At the opening of the forum, UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh highlighted the historic ties between the Arab and Turkish people and emphasised the significant role academic institutions play in encouraging cultural dialogue and creating peace.

“The Arabs and the Turks have been connected for generations with their religious and cultural ties. Nowadays, especially in the era of the Arab Spring, they also have shared interests in achieving peace and stability in the region,” he said.

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