Speeches

Ambassador Eric Edelman Welcoming Remarks to the US -Turkish Business Council

Istanbul June 2, 2005

Thank you Yilmaz [Argüden]. It's a pleasure to be with the Turkish-U.S. Business Council this morning. I'd like to thank you and the board for bringing this important conference together. I'd particularly like to acknowledge Dr. Vural Akışık, with whom I had the pleasure of working when I first arrived in Turkey.

It's a special pleasure to be here with three distinguished members of the United States Congress, as well as two former Congressmen, who share a special interest in the U.S. relationship with Turkey.

Representative Ed Whitfield, Representative Nathan Deal and Representative Eddie Johnson do a fine job representing their constituents in Kentucky, Georgia and Texas. It is great to see that they are devoting time and energy to building friendships and relationships for America in Turkey and around the world.

As you all know, the Congressmen recently returned from a visit to northern Cyprus. The Administration of President Bush shares their commitment to ending the isolation of the people of northern Cyprus.

Special congratulations to the Turkish-American Business Council on your 20th anniversary. TUSBC has many accomplishments to be proud of over the years. Looking to the future, I admire your ambitious plans to expand your support for U.S.-Turkey trade and investment, such as the "Bridging Anatolia and U.S.A." initiative.

An anniversary is a time for looking back and celebrating achievements, as well as for looking to the future and making plans. As I prepare to leave Turkey in a few weeks, I too am simultaneously looking backward and forward.

At a milestone like this, we owe it to ourselves to be realistic as we assess our achievements while we congratulate ourselves. In the field of U.S.-Turkey trade and economic relations, I think it is a fair observation that we have not been fully successful in meeting our shared goal -- that of raising the U.S.-Turkey economic relationship to the level of our political and security relationship.

In fact, over the past five years, the figures show that Turkey's and America's importance to each other as trade and investment partners has not increased. There has been growth in bilateral trade, but for each country this growth has been less than the increase of overall trade. This has been true even as both of our economies recovered strongly from economic downturns -- a very severe one in Turkey's case -- near the turn of the century.

U.S. investment in Turkey has similarly remained disappointingly low at a time when total U.S. foreign direct investment continues to be strong. For a growing Turkey with a relatively large current account deficit, more FDI is a stable source of financing for your investment as well as your consumption needs.

All of us here today know the reasons for this less than hoped for performance. We’ve all talked about the issues. The U.S.-Turkey economic agenda today is much the same as it was in October 2003 when I made economic partnership the theme of my first speech as Ambassador to Turkey. A couple of issues have been resolved, and a couple of new ones have arisen at the margins, but the fundamental realities that are holding back trade and investment remain.

The truth is that only by ensuring that businesspeople of both countries have fair and equal access to each others' marketplaces will we succeed in building our economic relationship. We know that dynamic, transparent and free marketplaces are the environments in which economies and peoples thrive together.

There has been a lot of discussion over the past few years about ideas for granting preferential or other forms of special access to each others' markets. But such initiatives will be premature and futile so long as they are not supported by strong business fundamentals.

This is not criticism, but a call to further action. Americans and Turks need to double and redouble our efforts to build our economic relationship, because we are losing ground. The business community needs to take a leadership role. You are right in prioritizing efforts like the Anatolia-U.S.A. Bridge that help build political and social constituencies for greater trade and investment.

Elected and government officials, Turkish and American, also need to hear your frank views. Behinds-the-scenes interventions have their place, but so does an aggressive public outreach strategy that identifies problems, proposes solutions, and builds political support for the changes you seek.

This is especially the case when there are other voices raised against our relationship. Misguided ideas -- such as the public calls earlier this year for boycotts of U.S. companies -- should be countered and contradicted when they raise their ugly heads, because they can do real and lasting harm.

There are a number of different organizations involved in the important work of building the economic relationship. Each of them has a distinct identity and a distinct contribution to make. To the extent that we all work together, understanding our respective roles and abilities, this diversity can be a great strength. It's all about a bigger pie.

I hope you all have a great day discussing these issues, and I look forward to seeing you again this evening for the gala dinner. Many of us will be seeing a lot more of each other as we head to Washington for the ATC-TAIK Conference next week. This is an excellent opportunity to express your views to the most senior Turkish and American leaders.

It has been a pleasure to work with TUSBC over the past two years. I look forward to continuing the friendships I have made here once I return to Washington later this month. Turkey and the United States have a great future together, and TUSBC is a great organization that is making a real contribution to our continuing friendship. I wish you the best for today and for the future.