CHP promises a halt to 'Middle Easternization' of Turkey

This column on April 18 analyzed the foreign policy section of the ruling Justice and Development Party?s (AKP) election manifesto and found that the government is not promising a change in its diplomatic line. Today?s column will study the main opposition Republican People?s Party?s (CHP) plan for foreign policy under the title ?the vision for citizens and value-based foreign policy.?

The outset of the document gives a detailed analysis of the state of Turkey?s current foreign policy and explains how Turkey?s ties with its neighbors and close allies, especially in the West, have deteriorated at the hands of the AKP. 

?Today, Turkey?s relations with all of its neighbors have broken down, with the relations between the EU and the U.S. reaching a breaking point. The AKP has dragged Turkey into a state of dangerous isolation in its own region and the world,? reads the vision document. It suggests that the main reasons of the tarnished image of Turkey are the AKP?s ?sectarian and reckless foreign policies,? its arrogant approach towards its neighbors and authoritarian policy-making style. ?The AKP?s ambition to assert itself as a regional power in the Middle East, carried out by turning its back on the Transatlantic, Caucasian and Central Asian regions, has turned out to be a complete failure.?

It?s this that pushed the CHP to promise a complete overhaul of Turkish foreign policy. It highlights the security, well-being and peace of Turkish citizens, given the fact Turkey?s geography is alive with as many dangers as opportunities. It also underlines that they will make Turkey reconcile with all its neighbors, particularly Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Greece. 

?States are losing their hold on power, tribal and sectarian conflicts are on...