TURKEY BECOMES MAJOR REGIONAL (at least) PLAYER >> reference to its neighbors (Greece too) >> ZERO PROBLEMS .....

TURKEY  SEEKS  STATUS, SECURITY IN DEAL

By MARC CHAMPION

ISTANBUL—Turkey's effort to broker a deal on Iran's nuclear program
shows Ankara's growing confidence on the global stage and, succeed or
fail, is likely to cement the country's influence in the region,
analysts and diplomats said.  Yet the skepticism with which Western
capitals and even Moscow met the agreement also showed the risks of
overreaching as Turkey, once seen as little more than a U.S. client
state with hopes of joining the European Union, strikes out on its
own. Turkey's foreign ministry stood by the deal saying it was a
testament to the trust Turkey has developed among its neighbors in
recent years that Iran would agree to entrust enriched uranium to
Turkey.

The view here Monday was of a Turkish victory. Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan "has played a clever game with this deal and so have
the Iranians," said Huseyin Bagci, professor of international
relations at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. "It helps
him to establish his image as an international statesman and it helps
Iran to gain time." Turkish officials, including Mr. Erdogan, have
said repeatedly they believe further economic sanctions will fail in
their goal, but will increase tensions in the region.

The Iran deal, analysts say, is part of a Turkish foreign policy the
government calls "zero problems with neighbors," under which Turkey
has in the past two years opened up borders for trade and restored
political relations with countries such as Syria, Iraq, Russia and
Greece, as well as Iran.

The architect of the policy, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, said in
a speech this year that Turkey's foreign-policy activism should be a
boon to the U.S., which needs a strong "model partner" at the heart of
the region to attain its goals. The policy has in some areas been a
success, winning a measure of influence and commercial markets for
Turkey. Some policies have had strong U.S. backing. But over the past
year, the potential conflict between what Washington wants and what
Ankara considers good for Turkey has become increasingly clear as Mr.
Erdogan has attacked Israel over its invasion of Gaza, backed away
from a border opening deal with Armenia and sought to end the
international isolation of Hamas, Syria and Iran.

Iran could prove a breaking point in relations between the U.S. and
Turkey, says Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey program at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think
tank. The administration sees sanctions as the key to heading off
calls for U.S. or Israeli strikes against Iran, an eventuality it
wants to avoid at all costs. "If Turkey is seen to balk at sanctions
or vote against them in the [United Nations] Security Council, we will
have a mini-crisis in the relationship," said Mr. Aliriza.

Turkey's overtures toward Iran, Syria and others in the Middle East
have led some in Turkey and abroad to question whether the ruling
Justice and Development Party's Islamist roots may be influencing the
government's foreign-policy choices, and whether the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization member it is turning away from the West. The
government denies both charges.

"Their main driver in foreign policy is commercial," says Henri J.
Barkey, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, a Washington think tank. Trade deals and pipeline contracts
have been at the heart of most of Turkey's charm offensives toward its
neighbors, and Iran in particular has potential to help Turkey realize
its core strategic goal of becoming an energy hub.

Printed today in The Wall Street Journal Europe, page 9 / 18-05-2010