Post by Bozur on Feb 17, 2005 17:43:26 GMT -5
From Russia to Turkey, with love
Erdogan may promote European values on ethics but his actions reflect the Ottoman in him
By Burak Bekdil - Kathimerini English Edition
There was more than enough content to fill Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Moscow last week: trade, military contracts, counterterrorism, regional alliance, energy projects, even Cyprus. But Erdogan's three-day stay in Moscow, accompanied by 600 businessmen, lawmakers and journalists, will be remembered less for its strong content than for the precious gifts his wife took there.
Last month, President Vladimir Putin became the first real Russian leader to visit NATO member Turkey since Moscow established diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire in 1492; prior to this, the highest Moscow official to visit was Nikolai Podgorny, the purely nominal head of the Soviet state in 1973.
Bilateral trade exceeded $10 billion last year, making Russia Turkey's second-biggest commercial partner after Germany. That figure excludes shuttle trade from Istanbul to Moscow, estimated at an annual $3-5 billion. Two-way trade could reach $25 billion in the next five years.
Nearly 2 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2004, the largest number from any country bar Germany. Turkish investments in Russia total some $2 billion. Russian weapons' suppliers are testing the waters to make a challenging entrance into the Turkish defense market. Also, Russia is Turkey's top natural gas supplier. Erdogan says 2005 should be officially named «The Year of Russia» in Turkey and «The Year of Turkey» in Russia.
All that makes for some quite spectacular ingredients for a spring mood between two countries whose political ties have been dogged by rivalry in Central Asia, the Balkans and the Caucasus for centuries. But that was not all that happened in Moscow.
Erdogan opened an 11-story, 9,000-square-meter Turkish commercial center in Moscow, servicing some 200 companies. Mr and Mrs Erdogan were inspecting the impressive outlet when a Turkish carpet seller gave Mrs Erdogan a silk carpet worth about $5,000 as a present. Mrs Erdogan smiled and accepted the gift. The next gesture, by another Turkish shop owner, was even more generous: a necklace worth over $30,000. Once again, Mrs Erdogan smiled and accepted the gift, without knowing that the scene would cause quite a headache for her husband.
Back home and facing loud criticism, even from Erdogan's staunchest supporters in the media, Mrs Erdogan first said that she would «consider donating» the necklace to a charity fund for the tsunami victims in Asia. Then she said she would «consider donating» it to the Treasury. Her husband, in his usual cocky manner, challenged his critics, stressing that he had «30 days to have the gifts registered at the Prime Ministry's official books; so, why all the unnecessary talk?» Besides, he said, the necklace was worth a mere $10,600, not $30,000.
In February 2003, when Erdogan went to Washington to meet with his friend «George,» he had given the president of the United States an Ottoman-style, handmade pen set as a present, attached with a note that put the price of the gift at $260 - for US presidents are not allowed to accept gifts worth more than $285.
There are strict rules and norms guiding gift taking by statesmen in the club Erdogan strives to push Turkey into. But the happy moment as evinced by the glitter in the eyes of the Erdogan couple reflects the orientalism in the great Turkish reformist.
The value of the gift in Moscow may be $10,600 or $30,000. Mrs Erdogan may be considering donating it to the tsunami victims, or to the Treasury. All of that will not change the fact that it was not perfectly ethical that Mrs Erdogan accepted the gifts, or that the PM did not immediately give orders for registering the gifts into the official books.
Is this surprising? Not really. After all, we are talking about a man who explains the source of his wealth through «gifts, gold and jewellery given to his son at the boy's circumcision ceremony.»
Mr Erdogan may be advocating European values on ethics and clean governance. But the episodes like Moscow reflect the «Ottoman in him.»
The Ottoman sultans began taking «gifts» in the 16th century when Semsi Ahmed Pasha, whose ancestors were a Turkish tribe terminated by the invading Ottoman forces, showered the Palace with carts full of gold and precious metals. Satisfied with the sultans' established habit of accepting gifts, Semsi Ahmed Pasha wrote: «Now the Ottomans are doomed to collapse. This is my revenge.»
Could he be right?
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=51875