Turkey, Syria fail to fulfill agreements

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Prime Minister Erdaoğn (R), Syrian President al-Assad (C) and their spouses tour in Damascus in this 2009 photo. Turkey suspended all its agreements and financial dealings with Syria at the end of last year. Ankara has signed 50 deals with Damascus between 2009 and 2010 though they are not implemented. AA photo

Turkey has signed 281 agreements within the high-level strategic partnership councils that it has built with other countries, the highest number of 50 signed with Syria between 2009 and 2010, though not currently implemented.

Syria is followed by Iraq, with whom Turkey has signed 48 high-level strategic partnership council agreements between 2008 and 2009, despite suffering from turbulent relations for over a year.
“The leaders change, however institutions stay permanently. It is important that these mechanisms have started with these countries. So these agreements would continue even after some transitions take place,” a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News regarding the agreements signed but not implemented with Syria.

Once a close ally of Syrian leader President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey’s ties with Syria have deteriorated since the country’s uprising began in March 2011.

Turkey suspended all its agreements and financial dealings with Syria at the end of last year.
Another official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the High-Level Cooperation Council comprising Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon does not function as well because of the situation in Syria.
Ankara has had tense relations with Baghdad for more than a year, particularly after the fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who has been issued three death sentences in Iraq, found shelter in Turkey last year.

 “Even though the high-level strategic partnership council with Iraq cannot come together and organize meetings for a while, it still exists,” the official said.

 The number of countries that Turkey established high-level strategic partnership councils with has reached 13 and the number of agreements has reached 281, the latest 11 agreements signed with Russia during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkey Dec. 3.

Turkey signed its first high-level strategic partnership agreement with Brazil in 2006 followed by Iraq, Syria, Russia, Greece, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

Turkey has 40 agreements with Egypt, 29 agreements with Russia, 27 agreements with Pakistan, 23 agreements with Azerbaijan, 22 agreements with Greece, 17 agreements with Bulgaria, 13 agreements with Ukraine and 10 agreements with Kazakhstan.

Turkey has conducted 25 partnership council meetings in trade, science, technology, industry, energy, defense, banking, visa regimes, tourism, health, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, development, education, communication, culture and environment in the last seven years.