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When Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu visited Macedonia in late December 2014, he pledged to send a Turkish flag, a Turkish dictionary and a Quran to every person of Turkish origin living in Skopje.
The promise signaled that the Balkans will again play a part in the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) election campaign before parliamentary elections on June 7.
Turkey's neo-Ottoman approach to the Balkans – one of the regions formerly under Ottoman Empire rule – is irritating to Balkan countries and perceived as interference in their internal affairs.
Neo-Ottoman ideology, which has gained momentum since the AK Party rose to power in 2002, promotes greater political engagement in modern Turkey among regions previously under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The concept of neo-Ottomanism has been championed before election campaigns since the AK Party came to power. During such campaigns the party has often described its voters as being of Ottoman descent and neo-Ottomanism has become part of Turkish foreign policy.
While the AK Party government is pushing Turkey to change from its current parliamentary system into a presidential one, opposition figures in Turkey and the Western press argue that favoring a strong leadership will push the Turkish presidency into the role of an Ottoman sultan. A foreign diplomatic source in Ankara who spoke on condition of anonymity told Sunday's Zaman that leaders of the Balkan countries are highly irritated by Turkey's neo-Ottoman approach, adding that such moves are only hurting Turkey's relations with Balkan countries. "I wonder how Turks would react if a leader of another country promises to hand out the Bible in Turkey," said the source.
Davutoğlu has plans to visit Bulgaria and Serbia before the June 7 elections. He announced at the end of December 2014 that he would be visiting Bulgaria in January. But, due to Bulgaria's unwillingness to host Davutoğlu before the parliamentary elections, the visit is not scheduled to take place any time soon.
Sunday's Zaman has learned that the Bulgarian authorities told their Turkish counterparts that the visit cannot take place in January and postponed it until the end of February. But sources who asked not to be named stated that the visit will most likely not take place until after the elections in Turkey and will be further postponed. When he announced his intention to visit Bulgaria in January, Davutoğlu said critics of Turkish foreign policy should look at the number of diplomatic visits scheduled.
Diplomatic problems between Turkey and Bulgaria are not new. In February 2014, Davutoğlu, foreign minister at the time, canceled his visit to Sofia only two days before it was due to take place. His planned visit was set to take place between Feb. 6 and 7, 2014, but Davutoğlu canceled the trip after he learned that tight scheduling meant he wouldn't be able to meet with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev.
The usual protocol for a foreign minister is to meet only with his or her counterpart. The decision to cancel the visit put a strain on Turkey's relations with Bulgaria. It appeared to create disappointment and was perceived as “arrogant” by the Bulgarian authorities, according to sources who spoke to Sunday's Zaman at the time.
Another possible Balkans visit by Davutoğlu before the elections could be to Serbia. Sunday's Zaman has learned that while in Davos, attending the World Economic Forum in January, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic had invited Davutoğlu to Belgrade. Serbia views the visit as an important opportunity for Turkish firms investing in Serbia.
Neo-Ottomanism had also caused problems with Serbia in the past. “Do not forget that Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo,” said the prime minister at the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His words came during an address in Prizren, which has a significant Turkish population, on Oct. 23, 2013, and as he spoke them he made the “Rabia” hand sign, synonymous with anti-coup protests in Egypt.
“Never forget that all of us are people with a shared history, culture and civilization; we are brothers and relatives of one another,” he added. Erdoğan's remarks were met with skepticism by Serbia, which refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of Serbian culture.
"In the Republic of Serbia, such statements cannot be received as friendly. They depart from the assurances we receive in our regular contact with Turkey's top officials,” said the Serbian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
A trilateral meeting between Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – scheduled to take place in Belgrade in December 2013 – was indefinitely postponed by Serbia after Turkey failed to mend ties with Serbs by expressing regret for the "misinterpretation" of Erdoğan's remarks on Kosovo.
However, in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman last week, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaçi rejected claims that Turkey is trying to revive Ottoman-era power over the region. "Turkey is an important investor in Kosovo and in the region,” he said. "It is normal for states that grow economically to seek new spheres of interest and influence. Our opinion about the Turkish policy towards the Balkans is based on our experience with Turkey.
"This is an experience of mutual cooperation on equal terms, cooperation from which all sides benefit. More importantly, with the EU as our ultimate goal, we should cooperate more with each other, and the whole region, to move closer to the EU,” he added.
The promise signaled that the Balkans will again play a part in the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) election campaign before parliamentary elections on June 7.
Turkey's neo-Ottoman approach to the Balkans – one of the regions formerly under Ottoman Empire rule – is irritating to Balkan countries and perceived as interference in their internal affairs.
Neo-Ottoman ideology, which has gained momentum since the AK Party rose to power in 2002, promotes greater political engagement in modern Turkey among regions previously under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The concept of neo-Ottomanism has been championed before election campaigns since the AK Party came to power. During such campaigns the party has often described its voters as being of Ottoman descent and neo-Ottomanism has become part of Turkish foreign policy.
While the AK Party government is pushing Turkey to change from its current parliamentary system into a presidential one, opposition figures in Turkey and the Western press argue that favoring a strong leadership will push the Turkish presidency into the role of an Ottoman sultan. A foreign diplomatic source in Ankara who spoke on condition of anonymity told Sunday's Zaman that leaders of the Balkan countries are highly irritated by Turkey's neo-Ottoman approach, adding that such moves are only hurting Turkey's relations with Balkan countries. "I wonder how Turks would react if a leader of another country promises to hand out the Bible in Turkey," said the source.
Davutoğlu has plans to visit Bulgaria and Serbia before the June 7 elections. He announced at the end of December 2014 that he would be visiting Bulgaria in January. But, due to Bulgaria's unwillingness to host Davutoğlu before the parliamentary elections, the visit is not scheduled to take place any time soon.
Sunday's Zaman has learned that the Bulgarian authorities told their Turkish counterparts that the visit cannot take place in January and postponed it until the end of February. But sources who asked not to be named stated that the visit will most likely not take place until after the elections in Turkey and will be further postponed. When he announced his intention to visit Bulgaria in January, Davutoğlu said critics of Turkish foreign policy should look at the number of diplomatic visits scheduled.
Diplomatic problems between Turkey and Bulgaria are not new. In February 2014, Davutoğlu, foreign minister at the time, canceled his visit to Sofia only two days before it was due to take place. His planned visit was set to take place between Feb. 6 and 7, 2014, but Davutoğlu canceled the trip after he learned that tight scheduling meant he wouldn't be able to meet with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev.
The usual protocol for a foreign minister is to meet only with his or her counterpart. The decision to cancel the visit put a strain on Turkey's relations with Bulgaria. It appeared to create disappointment and was perceived as “arrogant” by the Bulgarian authorities, according to sources who spoke to Sunday's Zaman at the time.
Another possible Balkans visit by Davutoğlu before the elections could be to Serbia. Sunday's Zaman has learned that while in Davos, attending the World Economic Forum in January, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic had invited Davutoğlu to Belgrade. Serbia views the visit as an important opportunity for Turkish firms investing in Serbia.
Neo-Ottomanism had also caused problems with Serbia in the past. “Do not forget that Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo,” said the prime minister at the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His words came during an address in Prizren, which has a significant Turkish population, on Oct. 23, 2013, and as he spoke them he made the “Rabia” hand sign, synonymous with anti-coup protests in Egypt.
“Never forget that all of us are people with a shared history, culture and civilization; we are brothers and relatives of one another,” he added. Erdoğan's remarks were met with skepticism by Serbia, which refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of Serbian culture.
"In the Republic of Serbia, such statements cannot be received as friendly. They depart from the assurances we receive in our regular contact with Turkey's top officials,” said the Serbian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
A trilateral meeting between Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – scheduled to take place in Belgrade in December 2013 – was indefinitely postponed by Serbia after Turkey failed to mend ties with Serbs by expressing regret for the "misinterpretation" of Erdoğan's remarks on Kosovo.
However, in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman last week, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaçi rejected claims that Turkey is trying to revive Ottoman-era power over the region. "Turkey is an important investor in Kosovo and in the region,” he said. "It is normal for states that grow economically to seek new spheres of interest and influence. Our opinion about the Turkish policy towards the Balkans is based on our experience with Turkey.
"This is an experience of mutual cooperation on equal terms, cooperation from which all sides benefit. More importantly, with the EU as our ultimate goal, we should cooperate more with each other, and the whole region, to move closer to the EU,” he added.