Former ambassador Pamir becomes member of NATO wise men committee

NATO's new Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has approved Turkey's appointment of former Ambassador Umit Pamir to the security alliance's Wise Men Committee, a new body tasked to plan the future of NATO and its missions. During his farewell visit to Ankara last month, former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who handed over his post to Rasmussen yesterday, called on Turkey to take active part in the work of the security alliance as part of its new strategic plan. Turkey responded positively to the outgoing head of the bloc, which it has been a key member of since it joined in 1950. The idea of setting up such a committee, composed of 12 figures, came about as a result of concerns within NATO about its future missions in the post-Cold War era. The first meeting of the group was held early this month, and Pamir will officially begin his duties next week. Rasmussen's election as secretary general of NATO during its 60th anniversary summit in early April caused controversy within the alliance as Turkey threatened to use its veto right, saying the Danish politician was not the right person for the job. Turkey had strongly criticized Rasmussen for his stance during the cartoon crisis of 2006, which triggered major protests across the Islamic world, and had concerns about the policies that NATO would follow under Rasmussen's helm. After receiving firm assurances from such figures as US President Barack Obama, Turkey agreed to the former Danish premier's election to the top NATO post. One of those assurances was the appointment of a Turkish diplomat to the new NATO body. The members of the committee will not represent their original country but will be tasked "to create more partnerships in the world, to empower military capacity, to develop further relations with international organizations, to be able to execute its missions and operations, and to solve problems with Russia." Pamir retired from the Foreign Ministry in 2006. His last posting was at NATO, where he represented Turkey for three years.