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The Turkish Role in Negotiations with Iran
The P5-1 talks with Iran will resume Jan. 21-22. For those not tuned
into the obscure jargon of the diplomatic world, these are the talks
between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (the
United States, Britain, France, China and Russia), plus Germany — hence,
P5-1. These six countries will be negotiating with one country, Iran.
The meetings will take place in Istanbul under the aegis of yet another
country, Turkey. Turkey has said it would only host this meeting, not
mediate it. It will be difficult for Turkey to stay in this role.
The Iranians have clearly learned from the North Koreans, who have
turned their nuclear program into a framework for entangling five major
powers (the United States, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea) into
treating North Korea as their diplomatic equal. For North Korea, whose
goal since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the absorption of China
with international trade has come down to regime survival, being treated
as a serious power has been a major diplomatic coup. The mere threat of
nuclear weapons development has succeeded in doing that. When you step
back and consider that North Korea’s economy is among the most destitute
of Third World countries and its nuclear capability is far from proven,
getting to be the one being persuaded to talk with five major powers
(and frequently refusing and then being coaxed) has been quite an
achievement. Read more »
