Co-sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, SAIS hosted, along with Walker, Natalie Tocci, senior fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome, and Professor Kemal Kirişçi of the political science department at Boğaziçi University, to debate US-Turkish relations in a panel discussion called “Moving Beyond the ‘Losing Turkey’ Debate: Turkey’s Transatlantic Value in the Middle East” on Tuesday.
Walker said during the discussion that Turkey has seen tremendous progress in the past five to 10 years and has become a dynamic, self-confident developing country. Walker said Turkey, which was born out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region for 600 years, has acquired a new role and sees itself as the natural leader of 27 countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire in the past.
Throughout its history, Turkey has always leaned towards the West, Walker said, and contrary to the past, it now has a more proactive foreign policy. Turkey used to design its foreign policy along American lines, but these times have passed, he added. He mentioned the great transformation in relations with Syria and remarked on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s popularity there.
Although the importance Turkey carries for the US has never decreased, Walker said US-Turkish relations had enjoyed their best time in 2009 because of frequent mutual visits; however, relations were now going through their worst period due to the Armenian “genocide” resolution, he said.
