Iran Daily's Amir Ali Abolfath interviews head of Turkish Parliament's Foreign Relations Commission, Murat Mercan.

Iran and Turkey can play a pivotal role in bringing peace, stability and security, as well as development, to the region. To discuss this issue Iran Daily’s Amir Ali Abolfath interviewed head of Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Relations Commission. The following is an excerpt of the interview:

IRAN DAILY: Would you please introduce yourself?
MURAT MERCAN: I am Murat Mercan. I was born in 1959 and graduated in industrial engineering from Bugazici University in Istanbul. I continued my higher education in the US and received my PhD. I taught as assistant professor before returning to Turkey in 1992 and becoming a faculty member of the Bilket University in Turkey. I taught for several years in Turkish universities. I became a candidate for Turkish parliament from Turkey’s Welfare Party, the same party as (Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Abdullah Gul was a state minister and I was his advisor. At the same time, I became involved in political activities. When Erdogan became Istanbul mayor, I served as his advisor. At the same time I retained my job as Gul’s advisor. I was founder of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) which was established in 2002. I also played a role in drawing up programs for this party. I have served as deputy secretary general of Justice and Development Party (AK Party). I have also headed the Turkish delegation to the European Council and officiated as the head of Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission.

Have you visited Iran before?
No, this is first time I’ve come to Iran.

As the head of Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Policy Commission, how do you see Iran? Do you consider it a big market, a neighbor, a strategic state or a historical country?
The way I look at Iran is that the border between Iran and Turkey has remained unchanged over the 500 years. No two countries have had the situation similar to Iran and Turkey when it comes to border issues. A strong historical and cultural bond exists between Tehran and Ankara. I believe trade between Iran and Turkey should be about $8 billion in the short-term which should increase to $10 billion in the middle term and increase further in future. Iran has many energy resources, including oil and gas, which can be sold to Turkey. Turkey is currently purchasing goods from Iran valued at $7 billion while Turkey only sells goods worth $1 billion to Iran, which should be raised.
We have many experienced businessmen who can meet the demands of Iranians. In order to help them become active and make Iran attractive for them, we believe measures should be taken. Therefore, as trade relations between Ankara and Tehran improve, the likelihood of mutual understanding will increase and bilateral ties will be consolidated. Cooperation in the field of energy, including oil and gas, which will take place in the near future, is very good news. Iran and Turkey are the most important countries of the region. They can play a pivotal role in bringing peace, stability and security, as well as development, to the region. Hence, both sides should be serious about bilateral cooperation. Therefore, we cannot assess Iran-Turkey ties merely in historical, cultural and economic terms.

PKK had announced that it will retaliate Turkey’s raids on northern Iraq. Could you elaborate on Turkey’s capabilities in entering into a guerrilla war with PKK in northern Iraq?
For the past 20 years, the Turkish government is fighting with PKK and about 40,000 Turkish civilians and military personnel have been killed in these wars. Fighting with PKK has different political, economic, social, security and military dimensions. Turkey has taken big strides in different areas. Before the Turkish Army’s operations against PKK, the terrorist group conducted many terrorist acts in major Turkish cities and there is no guarantee it will not do the same again in the near future. Therefore, Turkish intelligence and police forces had taken many positive actions and nullified the moves of the terrorist group. The fight against PKK will continue till the end. We expect all countries to cooperate with each other on the issue of fighting terrorism.

During his visit to Turkey, Israeli President Shimon Perez delivered a speech in the Turkish Parliament and it was for the first time that an Israeli president made a speech in an Islamic state. What is your opinion about Perez’ speech in a parliament where a majority were from AK Party?
It is natural for different countries to pursue their own policies. The same is true for Turkey and Iran. It is natural to see differences in the policies of Turkey and Iran. Although a majority of Turkish nationals are Muslim, a secular government is controlling the country. Turkey has recognized Israel as a sovereign state. Our party also recognized Israel, but at the same time believes that Palestinians are entitled to statehood. The capital of the state of Palestine should be east Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
Removal of many problems of the Middle East is related to resolving the pending issues of Palestine and Israel. Perez and Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) concurrently delivered speeches in Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. A series of trilateral meetings also took place, which might be considered the first rational move by the two sides. We believe that the issue of Palestine and Israel should be resolved through dialogue. We are ready to help. We understand the problems that the Palestinians are currently facing. For the same reason, in a meeting held for helping the Palestinians, it was decided that $150 million be allocated to Palestine. We will help implement the decision. When the US has promised to donate $500 million, our 150-million-dollar aid shows how important Palestine is for us. Turkey is constructing a free trade zone and a university in Palestine. We believe that helping through dialogue is a right decision for removing the prevailing problems. Moreover, we are of the opinion that the countries of the region can have different strategies and policies vis-ˆ-vis this issue.

Turkey has taken positive steps for making use of atomic energy. What’s your opinion regarding access of different countries to production of nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes?
The Turkish government believes that no country should have nuclear weapons. It would have been good if the countries that have nuclear weapons become devoid of the same. However, we are of the opinion that all countries are entitled to peaceful nuclear energy. A new law has recently been passed according to which a nuclear power plant should be established in Turkey. Tender bids for construction of the nuclear power plant have been prepared. We are interested to establish such power plants in Turkey. We also believe that power plants should be monitored by international institutions that are also independent. The International Atomic Energy Agency can properly control the nuclear power plants. Countries that utilize nuclear energy should act in a transparent manner and allow IAEA to control them.

Egyptians intend to master the nuclear fuel cycle. How about Turkey?
I am not familiar with the details of the IAEA. I do not have sufficient information. However, I believe everyone should be entitled to nuclear energy.

Palestinian Hamas supporters take part in a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah against Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip January 22.

Last week, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas masterminded a spectacular “bust-out“ into Egypt of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, where Israel has been maintaining a tight siege for many years. That bust-out reinforced the strength of Hamas’s popular support among Palestinians and has started to change the political map of the region.
Isn’t it now time for the United States to find a way to deal with Hamas, directly or indirectly? How can President Bush realize his aim of creating a viable Palestinian state this year if his administration continues to pour energy and funds into the crushing of Hamas, which has repeatedly shown that it has the support of a large proportion of Palestinians?
Yes, over the years, Hamas’s armed branch has committed many military acts that deserve criticism. But so have numerous others in the Middle East--including militants in Iraq whom the US is now funding and trying to bring into the political process there.
Hamas, unlike those newly embraced networks in Iraq, is already an established, broad political movement that has proved its support in national elections. In parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza in 2006, Hamas won 76 of the 132 seats.
The US had supported those elections. But, instead of embracing the newly elected Hamas leaders, Washington and Israel confined their contacts instead to the Fatah movement’s Mahmoud Abbas. They have encouraged Mr. Abbas to take steps against Hamas and its supporters.
Meanwhile, Israel has imprisoned elected Hamas parliamentarians and hundreds of their supporters. And in the past two years, it has tightened the economic screws on Hamas main stronghold in Gaza several times.
It was the latest tightening of those screws that provoked the streaming-out of Gazans into neighboring Egypt on Jan. 23.
Militants used land mines to fell long sections of the wall along Gaza’s seven-mile boundary with Egypt, and legions of Gaza’s 1.5 million hard-pressed residents then thronged into Egypt to buy everything from food to cooking gas to medicine.
Egypt’s security forces fell back. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in several Egyptian cities the day before had shown President Hosni Mubarak he’d have a high--perhaps fatal--political price to pay if he continued to collaborate with Israel in its siege of Gaza.
Meanwhile, the longstanding military tit for tat between Israel and Gaza-based militants from Hamas and other groups has continued. Israel’s extremely well-armed military has killed more than 800 Gazans, including 379 civilians, in the past two years.
The Gaza militants have hit Israel with primitive and virtually untargetable rockets that have killed 18 Israelis since June 2004. Civilians on both sides live in fear.
On Jan. 16, I interviewed Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in his well-guarded office here in Damascus. He told me Hamas is interested in reaching a cease-fire with Israel, though he said Israel still rejects this idea completely. He said that Hamas--which has a long and close relationship with Egypt’s main political opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood--considers its support within the Arab countries an important asset. While we talked, Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, called. During their five-minute conversation, Meshaal asked President Saleh to work hard to help lift the siege on Gaza.
Meshaal said Hamas seeks a better relationship with the US. “We are not against the American people, but against this administration. We are not against American interests. Every state has the right to have its own interests--but not at the expense of other peoples.“
The State Department’s designation of Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization had caused big problems for the organization, he admitted. But “American policy is also affected badly,“ he argued, “because it finds itself fighting the wrong wars.“
As several past Hamas leaders have done before, Meshaal expressed Hamas’s willingness to engage in a multidecade “truce“ (hudna) if Israel agrees to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders, including in Jerusalem, and respects the rights of Palestinian refugees.
These are not easy conditions to fulfill, and no Israeli leader is likely to fulfill them anytime soon.
Hamas has a greater chance of success winning a more limited cease-fire in the ongoing military exchanges with Israel. Any such cease-fire would have a strong positive impact on Gaza (and on southern Israel). Also, if Gaza’s people can start connecting more freely with the world economy through Egypt, their situation could be further stabilized.
During Mr. Bush’s recent trip to the Middle East, he said some welcome things about his desire for regional peace. But no one can build such a peace while continuing to exclude (and energetically combat) a large, well-rooted political movement such as Hamas.
Washington needs to find a way to talk to the leaders of the movement. Longtime friends in Egypt can help establish a channel. The war-shattered peoples of Gaza and of southern Israel need Washington to help, not hinder, the reaching of a cease-fire.
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