ERDOGAN WARNS OBAMA POSSIBLE PLIGHTS AHEAD
Hurriyet
Nov 17 2008
Turkey
ANKARA – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s overview of the
Turkish foreign policy at the Brookings Institute on Friday included
important criticisms on U.S. handling of the "war on terror" and the
European Union. Nuclear powers must disarm first to tell Iran not to
go nuclear. Erdogan also said and warned certain lobbies could hurt
Turkish-Armenian relations.
In a speech to the Brookings Institute on Friday, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the in-coming U.S. administration of
issues that could taint future bilateral relations between the two
countries, while maintaining his belief that the bilateral relations
would continue to improve.
"U.S. support is essential for maintaining the dialogue initiated
with Armenia. Steps taken during the new period must not hinder our
efforts," Erdogan said.
A resolution by the U.S. Congress that recognized mass killings of
Armenians during the Ottoman era as genocide, which was later dropped,
strained Turkish American relations last year.
"Lobbies must not take part in solving international disputes,"
Erdogan stated, referring to the Armenian lobbies in the United States,
who were promised U.S. President-elect Barack Obama would formally
recognize the mass killings as genocide.
Erdogan’s first meeting with the emissaries of Obama over the weekend
at the G-20 summit in Washington D.C. was "perfect," according to
one of the emissaries, Jim Leach, who simply said "we listened"
to a question whether Obama sent Erdogan a message.
‘Disarm yourselves first,’ Erdogan says Erdogan urged the "countries
who ask Iran to drop its nuclear weapons scheme" to get rid of those
weapons themselves first, Iran’s nuclear row with the European Union
troika, composed of Great Britain, France and Germany. "That country
(Iran) tries to defend itself when faced with such demands, which is
normal for any country," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said that Turkey’s advantage over the Troika on facilitating
negotiations with Iran, which are currently stuck on the question of
uranium enrichment, was the element of trust.
Erdogan criticized the U.S. handling of the development efforts in
Iraq and Afghanistan and noted that Turkey was doing a successful
job in many hot regions of the world. "I am positive that some $500
billion is spent on Iraq and maybe more on Afghanistan. But on what
all that money is spent, I do not know," he maintained. Erdogan noted
that Turkey was willing to contribute to international efforts in both
countries. "We are ready to train Iraqi security forces," Erdogan
said. "It is Barack Obama’s will to determine a date for withdrawal
from Iraq. I wish that it would be announced after preliminary
preparations were concluded," Erdogan noted.
"We do not give money to Afghanistan, but invest there. Turkey
supplies the country with education and health services," Erdogan
said and added that Afghanistan as a long term commitment for Turkey.
Erdogan also conveyed Turkey’s position on the European Union
membership and the Cyprus issue to his audience, noting that the EU
failed to honor its obligations towards Turkey on both topics. Turkey
was promised "justice" on the divided island of Cyprus in 2004 but
despite Turkey’s unreciprocated efforts to reach a solution, northern
Cyprus is still being punished, Erdogan stressed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
