news on Turkey
U.S. Defense Chief Praises Turkey’s Role in Middle East
Secretary Gates says U.S. ties with Turkey “remain strong”
By Jim Fisher-Thompson, USINFO Staff Writer
27 March 2007
Washington -- The more than half-century U.S. alliance with Turkey, a NATO partner, is strong and will continue to hold because of shared democratic values, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.
Gates said that the threat posed by "jihadists and other bad actors" on the world stage has helped to strengthen relations.
Even though Turkey has at times been "an under-valued and under-appreciated" ally, Gates said the Muslim nation has been a faithful partner of the United States since President Harry Truman first established the Cold War doctrine that included the preservation of Turkey’s "national integrity." Truman said maintaining Turkey’s national integrity was "essential to the preservation of order in the Middle East," Gates said.
"And that holds true today," he said in remarks at the 26th Annual American-Turkish Council conference March 27. "Turkey provides key support in the difficult struggles against violent extremism we find ourselves in today."
For nearly 200 years, Gates said, Turkey has been on a "modernizing and westward course. [And] it is a course the United States strongly favored and continues to support."
"In addition to commitments we have made to each other as long-standing allies, there is Turkey's unique cultural and geographic position in the world; a position of vital importance to the security challenges we face today" in the Middle East, Gates said.
Also important, Gates said, is that Turkey has provided access to Iraq by the U.S.-led coalition forces through the Incirlik Air Base. "To accomplish our operations [otherwise] would be exceedingly more difficult and vastly more expensive," he said.
Acknowledging that relations with Turkey have "undergone some turbulence" in the recent past, he said, "Even so, our military, economic, political and personal ties remain strong."
Gates cited recent examples of improved U.S.-Turkish relations including Turkey's active cooperation on the Joint Strike Fighter project under development and official visits by 16 U.S. Navy ships on Turkish ports in 2006.
In his speech, Gates touched on a sensitive topic to the Turks -- the ongoing violence by separatist Kurds who have caused 30,000 deaths since 1984, according to the Turkish government.
"The situation on Turkey's border with Iraq's Kurdish region is of particular concern," Gates said. "We recognize that every Turkish citizen killed by the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] is a setback for success in Iraq and a setback in our relationship with Turkey."
Despite areas of friction, Gates described the state of U.S.-Turkish relations with a Turkish proverb: "'A wise man remembers his friends at all times; a fool only when he has need of them.' The United States and Turkey have wisely remembered our friendship at all times."
The full text of Gates’ remarks as prepared for delivery is available on the Defense Department Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)