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MULTIMEDIA
May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

US rules out shift in Turkey’s commitment to Western alliance

17 December 2009 / TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES, ANKARA
Suggesting that Turkey has turned its back on its allies within NATO and in Europe, particularly at a time when Turkish and US leaders recently had a lengthy meeting during which they discussed a series of global matters, is an incorrect perception, a senior US State Department official has said.

The remarks by Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, came at a hearing at the US House of Representatives on Tuesday. The hearing, held by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, was on “The Lisbon Treaty: Implications for Future Relations Between the European Union and the United States.”

During the hearing, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), also co-chairman of the US Congressional Caucus on US-Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans, recalled that numerous articles have recently suggested that NATO member Turkey is turning away from the West.

“For me, it’s very clear that Turkey is assuming a regional policy. If someone would [have] come up five years ago and say that Turkey would drive a great rapprochement process with Armenia or would implement a democratization process concerning its Kurdish population, few among us would have believed that. In my opinion, the benefits of Turkey conducting equal relations with its neighbors for the US and the West outweigh its harms,” Wexler was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Wexler then asked Gordon about his view of claims of a shift in Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. Firstly noting that he had also read those articles about Turkey’s foreign policy, Gordon said that Turkey has been playing “a more active role in its region and seeking a very important role.”

Ankara and Washington may have different views on certain issues, Gordon said, adding that US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed a series of issues including the two countries’ approaches to Iran, Israel and Syria during their Dec. 7 meeting at the White House.

“I believe that thinking that Turkey has turned its back to its decades-long cooperation with NATO, the US and Europe is an incorrect perception,” Gordon was quoted as saying by Anatolia. Highlighting that the meeting between Obama and Erdoğan took a few hours, he said, “This is not a sign showing that a country is moving away from the US.”

It is also not possible to say that Turkey, which is continuing its bid to become a member of the EU, is moving away from Europe, he said. “However, it is a fact that Turkey is continuing to be a close partner for us with its […] big and important cooperation on a regional and global scale.”

Following his meeting with Erdoğan earlier this month, Obama voiced his appreciation of the role played by Turkey in contributing to the maintenance of global peace.

Erdoğan’s visit was also used as an opportunity to diversify the strong political and military cooperation between the two allies with the launch of an initiative aimed at boosting trade and investment ties. The launch of the initiative has been widely considered to be another concrete sign of the mutual desire to make the model partnership more substantial.

Commentaries in Turkish newspapers widely described the White House meeting as a meeting that 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.
 
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© Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş. 2007, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Cad. No: 6, Bahçelievler - İstanbul 34194 Turkey, +90 (212) 454 1454, +90 (212) 454 1497(fax)