AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson’s Remarks to Suleyman Demirel University Via DVC
June 2, 2008
In 1947 President Truman declared the future of Turkey to be a vital American interest. Over sixty years later, Turkey remains a cornerstone and critical partner on a broad range of issues. As a NATO ally and candidate for EU membership, Turkey is central to the modernization and refocusing of trans-Atlantic and European institutions on global challenges. As a regional power in a crisis-torn area, Turkey promotes peace, stability and freedom in the broader Middle East, the Balkans, and Central and South Asia. Nowhere is this truer – and more complicated – than in Iraq, where Turkey has vital interests and ties. Elsewhere around Turkey’s periphery, there are complicated problems. Indeed, no American ally is on the front lines of so many issues that are at the center of US foreign policy priorities today, and our goals on the key issues are the same.
Turkey is impelled by geography to be engaged with and involved in Iraq’s future, and a constructive Turkish role is a essential for Iraq’s success. 2008 has already been a breakthrough year, marked by President Talabani’s visit to Ankara, dialogue between Turkey and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, and a new commission to develop bilateral ties that the two countries’ prime ministers hope to inaugurate in coming weeks. I am pleased and proud of the intelligence and other assistance that the United States has provided since last November in support of Turkey’s efforts to combat and defeat PKK terrorism. These efforts are have isolated the PKK, significantly degraded its capabilities, and helped strengthen and secure Iraq.
Turkey is an increasingly important player in the Middle East. It strongly supported the resolution of last month’s political crisis in Lebanon, where Turkish forces are stationed as part of UNIFIL. It initiated indirect talks between Syria and Israel just a few days ago. Ankara has repeatedly weighed in with Tehran on the nuclear issue to encourage acceptance of the negotiating agenda put forward by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. We want the same thing – a peaceful resolution that maintains regional peace and stability, and I am confident that Turkey will remain engaged.
Turkey gives strong support to Azerbaijan and Georgia in the Caucasus. Our collaboration on energy, reflected in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the parallel South Caucasus gas pipeline, is helping these countries, Turkey and Europe as a whole. Normalizing Turkey’s relations with Armenia will reinforce regional cooperation in the Caucasus and can help put historical issues that divide these two peoples into a modern context that looks ahead to a shared future.
Through Operation Black Sea Harmony, Turkey is a lead country on Black Sea security. It is a major player in the Balkans, including through the significant forces it has provided to KFOR and in Bosnia. We share the same goals regarding Cyprus – a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation developed under UN auspices that is acceptable to electorates on both sides of the island. Turkey is deeply involved in Afghanistan and in facilitating Afghan-Pakistani dialogue. And as I noted earlier, energy cooperation is also a key part of our relationship, as is our cooperation in combating international terrorism.
Democratic ideals and principles have been at the heart of our alliance and friendship for a long time. Turkey’s success as a prosperous, stable democracy demonstrates the fallacy of the idea that democracy cannot survive in largely Muslim societies. Of course, Turkey is managing no small number of domestic issues, including some very fundamental ones about representative democracy and the nature of secularism today. These are issues for Turkey, this country’s institutions and its citizens to work out and decide upon. Suffice it to say that we are closely following developments, we are concerned about their impact on Turkish democracy, and we expect that they will be resolved in a manner consistent with Turkey’s democratic values and traditions.
In closing, I am confident about US-Turkish relations. Of course there are problems, and some of your other speakers are probably commenting on them. But our countries are and will remain together a force for democracy, prosperity and stability. We will do so on the basis of a shared commitment to our common defense and to the defense of democratic values and peace in the region and in the world.