Abdullah Gül (left) appeared at Chatham House with director Robin Niblett
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the core of the turmoil raging across the Middle East, Turkey’s former president told a London think-tank.
Abdullah Gül said the conditions for insurgency and instability across multiple countries in the region were created because of a long-lasting inability to find a solution in Palestine. He told members of the Chatham House institute for international affairs that this had had the effect of opening a Pandora’s Box.
In an hour-long appearance that covered a range of international issues, Gül took questions on a range of issues affecting Turkey’s periphery.
If the Kurdistan region of Iraq were to declare independence this would cause a different kind of instability in the region, Gül said, adding that he had understood the fear of Iraq being divided expressed to him by politicians in Baghdad.
He said Turkey had a long history of relations with Russia but added: “we do not forget that we were an important wing of the NATO alliance for many years. The concern is that developments in Ukraine could lead to the start of a new Cold War.”
On Syria, Gül insisted his country was “never close to Assad regime” and had tried to engage with it purely because they were Turkey’s neighbours. He said he felt “deep sadness at the despiciable murders” committed by Islamic State but stressed it was important to regard IS as an extremist political movement, not a religious one.
While two million people had migrated to Germany in the last two decades, he said, the same number of Syrian refugees had flooded into Turkey in just two years: “There needs to be more appreciation of Turkey’s efforts in accommodating all of them.”
Chatham House members put only one question to Gül on Turkish domestic policy: “do you believe the powers of the presidency should be reformed?”
“I have already expressed my views on this subject previously,” Gül said in reply, reluctant to expand further.
But pressed by Chatham House director Robin Niblett, Gül said he preferred a parliamentary system for Turkey but that a presidential system could also work “with the correct checks and balances”.