By Van Meguerditchian The Daily Star 

RABIEH: Turkey’s ambassador to Lebanon, Inan Ozyildiz, believes that despite the recent political uncertainty, all political actors in Lebanon are “engaging in dialogue,” and expects democracy to take root in every country in the Arab world.

Since the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government in January, political uncertainty on local and diplomatic levels has grown, but according to Ozyildiz, who spoke with The Daily Star Monday, Turkey’s relationship with Lebanon cannot be affected by a change of government.

“Our relations are so deep and developed that they cannot be affected by a change of government,” said Ozyildiz, who added that Turkey supports a politically stable, independent and sovereign Lebanon. “Turkey has very good ties and ongoing dialogue with every political group in the country.”

When asked if the Hezbollah-backed Cabinet would harm the country’s international relations, Ozyildiz ruled out such a scenario. “For the time being, we’ve seen that all political actors in Lebanon have been engaged in dialogue,” Ozyildiz added.

The ambassador reiterated Turkey’s support for the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
“Turkey believes the STL should be allowed to function in this framework and should not be politicized.”
In an effort to strengthen Lebanese-Turkish relations, caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud signed a reciprocal visa abolition agreement with his Turkish counterpart during a visit to Ankara in 2010.

“The removal of visa requirements last year had a very positive impact at two levels: It removed the century-old psychological barriers existing in the minds of the Lebanese and Turks and abolished practical barriers against relations between the two countries, especially in the economic and commercial areas,” said Ozyildiz.
Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, had complete control of the territories historically known as Lebanon. However, at the end of WWI, Ottoman troops lost the territories to the French, who were granted a mandate over both Lebanon and Syria.

Relations between the countries have improved steadily since the establishment of modern Turkey in 1923 and Lebanon in 1926. Along with the visa abolishment policy, Hariri also signed an agreement for the establishment of a free trade area when Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayyep Erdogan visited Beirut last November.

Hariri and Erdogan signed another strategic agreement, explained Ozyildiz. “They [Hariri and Erdogan] signed a joint declaration to create a High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which will act as a joint council of ministers.”
Ozyildiz told The Daily Star that such a council would allow ministers of both countries to meet together and discuss bilateral affairs.

The ambassador also spoke about the recent popular uprisings and revolutions in the Middle East.
“Although every country in the region has its own characteristics and political history, the people of the Middle East have a common demand: Democracy,” said Ozyildiz.

According to Ozyildiz, the Arab world’s transition to democracy is late in coming. “These uprisings were kind of late, they should have started immediately after the end of the Cold War,” said Ozyildiz.
“When the turmoil is over, we [Turkey] are sure that we will have a more stable and prosperous Middle East,” Ankara’s ambassador added.

The demands raised by the people of the Middle East have proved the foresight of warnings that Turkish authorities had conveyed to Arab leaders over the past decade. “In 2003, when President Abdullah Gul was serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he called urgently on all member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference to put their houses in order.”

During the interview, which took place at the Turkish Embassy in Rabieh, Ozyildiz explained how the emergence of democracy in the Middle East would strengthen Turkish-Arab relations. “Democratic societies and regimes ultimately have better international relations … since they are more transparent and accountable,” said Ozyildiz.

For Ozyildiz, democratic societies build multidimensional relations with other states, through nongovernmental organizations and personal-level relations, which are much stronger than unilateral state-to-state relations.
According to Turkey’s ambassador, Ankara along with Beirut, Amman and Damascus would work on establishing a common economic zone. “There’s no need to say this, but the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will remove the main stumbling block for peace and stability in the region,” said Ozyildiz, who voiced hope that in 10 years time, the Middle Eastern countries would be in a far better condition.

As for Turkey’s future, its European Union membership continues to be one of the top priorities of the government. “EU is still an ambition and aspiration of Turkey,” Ozyildiz added.

Turkey, which is listed in the European Union’s enlargement agenda, began accession negotiations in 2005, and has so far tackled 13 chapters of the EU’s community acquis. “The remaining 18 chapters were blocked by the EU and some member states for different reasons,” the ambassador explained.

Turkey has faced some criticism of Article 301 of its Penal Code, a law that tightly monitors freedom of expression. The ambassador said that this article was part of the new Penal Code which was adopted to align the Turkish legal framework with the standards and principles of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Policies like Article 301, which makes it a crime to insult the Turkish nation or major governmental institutions, are common in repressive regimes in the Arab world. One of the most frequent demands during the ongoing Arab uprisings has been for freedom of speech and expression.

Unlike many other countries in the region, however, decades-old democratic practices in Turkey have given rise to a debate over the article and many have called for its abolishment.

“In May 2008, the Parliament amended the article and appropriated the criminal investigation to the Minister of Justice … only the minister and not the security forces can authorize a case and the number of cases authorized by the minister dropped to 10 in 2010,” said Ozyildiz, who was once deputy director-general of security.
Asked if Turkey fears a social uprising similar to those elsewhere in region, Ozyildiz said that his country’s democratic rule and freedom of expression have improved in the past decade.

Ozyildiz, who took office in July 2010, said that Turkey is set to open a debate on a new constitution after the parliamentary election in June. “The current constitution dates back to the period of military regime of 1982 … but after the elections, Turkey will debate all controversial issues.”