US President Obama reaffirms support for Turkey’s regional role

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama reaffirmed during a meeting on Monday at the White House that defending each other has been an obligation for the two NATO allies.

Ahead of the key meeting, the apparently diverging approaches of the two allies toward Iran’s nuclear program and Turkey’s unwillingness to change the parameters of its mission in Afghanistan despite an official US request for the contribution of further troops and more flexibility on the Afghanistan mission seemed to be the subject of concerns over whether a harmonious message could come out of the meeting.

Yet, despite subtle differences on the Iran issue, messages delivered by both Erdoğan and Obama following the meeting reflected a mutual determination to flesh out the declared “model partnership” between Ankara and Washington. During a landmark visit to Turkey in April, Obama refrained from employing the frequently used “strategic partnership” term to define relations between Turkey and the US, but rather suggested building a “model partnership” between Turkey and the United States with a unity based on ideals and values. “Turkey is a NATO ally, which means that we are pledged to defend each other.

… And given Turkey’s history as a secular democratic state that respects the rule of law, but is also a majority Muslim nation, it plays a critical role I think in helping to shape mutual understanding and stability and peace not only in its neighborhood but around the world,” Obama said at a joint press conference following the talks.

As Obama pressed him for more support to curb Iran’s nuclear program, Erdoğan said he is willing to serve as a diplomatic channel to the Iranian leadership.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama met for close to two hours in the Oval Office on Monday.

Obama said he told Erdoğan during a White House meeting “how important it is to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear capacity in a way that allows Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy but provides assurances that it will abide by international rules and norms.”

“I believe that Turkey can be an important player in trying to move Iran in that direction,” Obama said.

Obama, who has sought to engage Iran in a dialogue on its nuclear program since taking office, however, warned that time is running out for Tehran to respond to US overtures and indicated new sanctions could be in the works if there is no response by the end of the year.

“Turkey can play the role of a negotiator or a mediator,” Erdoğan said, adding he had made that suggestion to Obama and the two were in agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. “As long as Iran is willing to increase its nuclear capability for civilian purposes or peaceful purposes, we will never have a negative approach towards this demand,” he said. But he said if Iran’s nuclear program was aimed at building a weapon of mass destruction, “those problems can only be solved through diplomatic means.”

“We do not want to see a country in our region possessing nuclear weapons and we want the countries in our region who have nuclear weapons to be rid of them,” Erdoğan said.

On the Afghanistan struggle, Obama, who is seeking more help, praised Turkey for its “outstanding” contributions there, saying that Turkey’s commitments have helped bring stability to Afghanistan. Turkey took over the rotating command of the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kabul last month and doubled its number of troops to around 1,750. However, it has resisted repeated US requests to send its troops on combat operations.

Another key talking point at the press conference was the recent course of affairs regarding the rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, with Obama “encouraging Erdoğan to continue to move forward along this path.” This was an apparent reflection of the US expectation of further progress on normalization efforts with Armenia, probably through the swift ratification of the two protocols signed by the governments on restoring diplomatic ties and reopening the common border between the two neighboring countries.

Friends in business

Erdoğan’s visit was used as an opportunity for diversifying the strong political and military cooperation between the two allies with the launch of an initiative aimed at boosting trade and investment ties. “We can ... build on what is a good trade and commercial relationship and make it a much more robust one,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said at a press conference with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.

The initiative creates a new Cabinet-level forum to discuss ways to expand the flow of bilateral trade and investment and to try to resolve disputes when they arise, similar to the agreement the United States has with China.

“Overall, just to summarize, I am incredibly optimistic about the prospect of stronger and stronger ties between the United States and Turkey that will be based not only on our NATO relationship, our military-to-military relationship, our strategic relationship, but also increasing economic ties. And one of the concrete outcomes of this trip is to follow through on discussions that I had with both Prime Minister Erdoğan and President [Abdullah] Gül in Turkey to stand up a strategic working group around economic issues and improving commercial ties,” Obama said of the initiative.

The launch of the initiative has been widely considered as another concrete sign of the mutual desire to make the model partnership more substantial.

Commentaries in Tuesday’s Turkish newspapers widely described the White House meeting as a meeting which strengthened Erdoğan’s political position inside Turkey due to Obama’s clear remarks in support of the Erdoğan government’s democratization initiative and of Turkey’s fight against terrorism.

“Turkey is a great country. It is growing in influence around the world. And I am pleased that America can call Turkey a friend, and I’m pleased that I’m able to call Prime Minister Erdoğan personally a friend. I’m grateful for his trip here and look forward to many years of collaboration with him to observe both the prosperity of the American people and the Turkish people,” Obama said.