New Anatolian, Turkey
April 20 2006

Sensoy: Turkey will act responsibly to help defuse Iran issue

The Associated Press / Washington

Turkish Ambassador to Washington Nabi Sensoy late Tuesday dismissed
speculations that the Iranian nuclear standoff could create a crisis
between Turkey and the U.S., saying that Ankara will act as a
responsible member of the international community on the Iranian
issue.

Addressing Turkish-U.S. relations in a speech at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a leading U.S.-based
think tank, Sensoy said that there may be nuanced differences in
policies followed by the two countries towards Iran, but the goal is
the same.

“During their talks with Iranian leaders, Turkish officials should
pressure them to voice their real intentions about their nuclear
activities in order to convince the international community,” said
Sensoy, underlining that Turkey favors a diplomatic solution to the
dispute between Tehran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program.

—————Ara Baslik————–

‘Turkey wants to take Britain’s role in US-EU relations’

Sensoy expressed Turkey’s goal of taking over Britain’s powerful role
as a bridge between U.S. and European Union relations following its
accession to the 25-nation bloc.

“Ankara is trying to bring its foreign policy and security
initiatives in line with those of the EU. It is also working to share
common values and goals with the U.S.,” said the Turkish ambassador,
stressing the importance of good U.S.-EU relations for Turkey. “NATO
is the backbone of transatlantic relations, and cooperation between
Turkey, the EU and the U.S. under the umbrella of NATO will be
crucial to respond to new security threats,” he added.

Sensoy stated that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured
him that there is a political will to protect and develop strategic
partnership between the two countries, adding that two “hiccups”
appear to have damaged the relations. “One of them is the movie
‘Valley of the Wolves Iraq,’ and the other is the surprise visit of
the Hamas delegation to Turkey [in February]. I call these events
‘hiccups’ because they are too tiny to damage well-established
bilateral relations” he said.

“Valley of the Wolves not only tatters the image of Turkey in the
U.S., but it also negatively affects Turkish psychology. Ankara
conveyed not only the international community’s but also Turkey’s
requests and expectations from Hamas during their visit,” he added.

‘PBS documentary one-sided’

Sensoy lashed out at the U.S. public television network PBS for
airing a controversial documentary about the Armenian genocide
claims, saying that the documentary was one-sided since it gave
little opportunity for scholars who don’t support the Armenian thesis
to have their say.

“Instead of accepting the Armenian genocide claims as an unresolved
issue, the documentary aimed to silence legitimate discussion on the
controversial issue. In contradiction to the thesis of the
documentary, Armenian genocide claims have never a found historical
or legal basis,” Sensoy said.