BURNS SAYS US SHOULD RESTORE THE PRIMACY OF TURKEY
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
15.09.2007
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said on
Thursday that US-Turkish relations have reached a "critical juncture"
and bold steps are needed to "restore the primacy of Turkey as a
strategic partner" now Turkey has chosen its new government.
US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns (L) sits next to US
Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson during a visit to Ankara in January.
"The Turkish people have just concluded important, even historic
elections. These elections demonstrated the strong health of Turkey’s
democracy, the most impressive in the Muslim world. … We look to
Turkey, with its 160-year legacy of modernizing reform, as the most
successful example in the world today of a secular democracy within a
Muslim society that can inspire reformers in the greater Middle East
and beyond," he said.
He was speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. to an
audience including several former US ambassadors to Turkey and current
Turkish Ambassador to the United States Nabi Þensoy. Introduced by
former US Ambassador to Turkey Marc Grossman, Burns added that the
United States government looks forward to a "very close relationship"
with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan.
"The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) now controls the
government, Parliament, and presidency.
At the same time, Turkish voters sent a message of moderation during
the recent elections. While the AK Party won a resounding victory,
opposition parties received over 50 percent of the vote and with
more parties crossing the 10 percent electoral threshold, the new
Parliament is more representative of Turkey’s diverse voter sentiment,"
he said. "Turkey’s voters thus appear to have signaled their desire
for Prime Minister Erdoðan and President Gul to deepen Turkey’s
secular democracy by rejuvenating political and economic reforms,
but in the context of Turkey’s Muslim society."
Highlighting Turkey’s importance to the United States, Burns said the
21st century Middle East has replaced 20th century Europe as the most
critical region to America’s core national security interests. Calling
Turkey unique in its "dual identity as both a Middle Eastern and
European country" he said, "Turkey is the only country in the region
that can work effectively with all of the others in the Middle East."
Emphasizing that the United States is among the strongest supporters
of Turkey’s European Union aspirations, he said that to reach that
strategic objective, Turkey should repeal Article 301 of the penal
code, "which restricts freedom of expression and has led to outlandish
legal cases against private citizens and global figures such as Nobel
laureate Orhan Pamuk." Burns added that Turkey will help make its
own case with the EU by reopening the Halki Theological School on
Heybeliada Island near Ýstanbul.
The seminary was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put
religious and military training under state control. The seminary once
trained generations of Greek Orthodox leaders, including the current
Fener patriarch, Bartolomeos. The seminary remained open until 1985,
when the last five students graduated.
The US encouraged Turkey to normalize its relations and reopen its
border with Armenia, Burns said, adding, "The US must not inflame
matters by proclaiming Turkey’s past treatment of Armenians as
‘genocide’ or interfering in its sovereignty on delicate internal
matters."
The House of Representative’s Resolution 106, pending at the US
Congress, would make a political determination that the tragedy of 1915
constitutes genocide. Burns said the passage of the resolution would
undercut voices emerging in Turkey for dialogue and reconciliation
concerning the events, "We therefore have recommended to Congress
that it not pass such a resolution," he stated.
Nevertheless, he said the United States and Turkey still need to
work out some tactical differences in handling Iran. He said the
United States has been urging all of its allies, including Turkey,
not to reward Iran by investing in its oil and gas sector, "while Iran
continues to defy the United Nations Security Council by continuing
its nuclear research for a weapons capability."
Burns also noted that US intervention in Iraq triggered an
unprecedented wave of anti-Americanism in Turkey. He said official
relations have recovered from the low point of the Turkish Parliament’s
vote on March 1, 2003 to reject the United States’ request to move
US forces into Iraq via Turkey.
Since then, he said, Ankara has been a strong supporter of our efforts
to stabilize Iraq and safeguard Iraq’s territorial integrity. He also
gave assurances that the United States condemns the Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) as a terrorist group: "We mourn the loss of innocent
Turkish lives in these attacks. We remain fully committed to working
with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to counter PKK terrorists,
who are headquartered in northern Iraq. We are making progress in
putting in place the mechanisms required to produce such concrete
results against the PKK."
Burns is expected to travel to Ankara next week to personally
deliver his message of support to the new government. He also said
he intends to travel to Cyprus to communicate to both Turkish and
Cypriot leadership the strong wish of the United States for peace on
the divided island after decades of strife.
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