The Consul General of the Republic of Turkey answered Grand Valley State University students’ questions Thursday about Turkey and its relations with the Middle East and “Western” countries. The packed, standing-room only space of the Pere Marquette room listened attentively as Fatih Yildiz discussed Turkey and the values of its people, as well as its foreign policies with Syria, Iran and the European Union.

The consul general spoke at length with students during a long Q-and-A session following a brief speech about Turkey in general. A hot topic among the students was Turkey’s foreign policies, and Yildiz provided an in-depth examination of Turkey’s “Zero-problem” policy.

“This is a new thing, a novel thing in the region,” Yildiz said, adding that Turkey is aware that some countries do have problems with it. The policy is not a naive belief that Turkey will never have problems with its neighboring countries, but rather a hope and a drive to be innovative in its foreign policy so that the stability of the entire region is increased. This relates directly to the first of the four values Yildiz spoke about in his opening speech: creativity in foreign policy. This creativity is necessary as Yildiz said Turkey is a unique country, blending a 99 percent Muslim population with ‘Western’ ideas like secular and constitutional government.

Another discussion pertained to what Yildiz called Turkey’s “love affair” with the European Union. The consul general spoke of how Turkey has been trying to join the EU since 1963, and though it frustrates the people that it has been unable to do so, they are still Europeans in spirit.

“Europe is a set of ideas,” he said—ideas that Turkey shares.

But the countries of the EU are not the only neighbors that Turkey is concerned with.

“Neighbor is a ‘sacred’ term,” Yildiz said. “Neighbors are the ones you trust.” Turkey’s ‘zero-problem’ policy leads to it being cautious with its neighboring countries, creating policies that benefit Turkey but also contribute to economic stability and inter-dependence in the area. Yildiz spoke about Iran and how Turkey has been working to convince the country not to develop nuclear weapons. However, he also said Turkey does not support war on less-than-valid causes—a reference to the issues between the U.S. and the Middle Eastern countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.

“We really don’t want any extra problems in the region,” he said.

Perhaps the consul general’s most compelling topic involved secularism as part of the Turkish government. He said Turkey does not want to be beheld as a ‘model’ for other countries. Though Turkey supports “freedom from religion,” a concept that is different from America’s “freedom of religion,” the Turkish government feels that each country is a unique nation that should be given room to interpret concepts and ideas in their own ways and create policies that are as unique as the countries themselves.

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