THE REGIONAL COOPERATION INITIATIVES IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE AND THE TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY

Year 1998, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 0 - 0, 01.09.1998

Levent Bilman

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the major regional political and economic cooperation initiatives that appeared in the southeast corner of the European continent. It briefly examines the rationale behind each one and then looks into Turkish foreign policy about regional cooperation in the Balkans in three periods: the interwar period, the Cold War period and the post-Cold War period. Finally, this study attempts to offer an assessment of these regional initiatives. The paper covers the period from the immediate aftermath of the World War I to today. The political, economic and social conditions prevailing in Europe at the time of each initiative are not touched upon in detail. Similarly, this study does not elaborate on the domestic developments of the countries concerned. Today, integration with the Euro-Atlantic security structures is also high on the agenda of most Balkan countries. There are cooperation efforts in the area of security, like the meetings of defence ministers and the establishment of a multinational Balkan Force. It goes without saying that these initiatives strengthen the idea of cooperation and help the overall atmosphere of confidence in the region. However, this aspect has been left outside the scope of this study for reason of brevity.

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• Like the strained relations between Turkey and Bulgaria due to the latter’s forced assimilation policy directed at the Turks in Bulgaria. The BSEC covers a vast economic area from the Adriatic to the Pacific with a total population of over 300 million. Summit Declaration on Black Sea Economic Cooperation, June 1992.
• The OSCE acts as the repository of the Stability Pact in Europe. The South East Cooperative Initiative and the CEI participated in the Royaumont Process meeting in Athens, in April 1998.
• The Croatian foreign minister was quoted as saying to the visiting coordinator of the Royaumont Process, Mr Roumeliotis, that “Croatia considers itself as [sic.] Central European and Mediterranean country. It chairs the CEI in 1998 in confirmation of this fact.”
• The three countries had their first meeting in August 1995 in Yanya, and the second one in March in Varna. This type of trilateral meeting was later also possible between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
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• In the 1930s, Mussolini was talking about ‘Mare Nostrum’. In addition, the Dodecanese islands were under the control of Italy, a factor strengthening Turkey’s concerns about a possible Italian invasion of Anatolia.
• An important and revisionist neighbour of Turkey, Bulgaria had refused to join the Pact. For example, when the Pact received a serious blow due to the friendship agreement Yugoslavia signed with Bulgaria in January 1937, the then Turkish Prime Minister _nönü and the Foreign
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• This policy was not limited with Balkan countries. It was also directed toward Arab countries and, as a result, relations between Turkey and the Arab countries warmed up in the second half of the s.