OBAMA TURNS TO PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN ISTANBUL
Sibel Utku Bila
Agence France Presse
April 7, 2009 Tuesday 8:06 AM GMT
Pledging respect for Islam, US President Barack Obama turned to public
diplomacy Tuesday, meeting religious leaders and students and touring
ancient monuments in Istanbul on the second day of his first visit
to a mainly Muslim nation.
In a major speech at the Turkish parliament, Obama declared Monday the
United States is not and will never be at war with Islam and called
Turkey a "critical ally," earning himself much praise in a country
where his precedessor left the US image in tatters.
"Obama conquers hearts," the popular Vatan newspaper trumpeted on its
front page, while the Islamist-leaning Zaman hailed the president’s
"historic and warm messages."
The liberal Taraf declared the president’s remarks marked the end
of "the bellicose spirit of September 11," while the mass-selling
Milliyet described Turkey as the starting point of a new US policy
of reconciliation with the Muslim world.
Following up on his appeal for dialogue and inter-faith understanding,
Obama met with Muslim, Christian and Jewish spiritual leaders based
in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city and the meeting point of Europe
and Asia.
Later he was scheduled to visit two major edifices of Christianity
and Islam — the Hagia Sophia church and the Blue Mosque — erected
opposite each other in the ancient heart of the city.
Obama was to wrap up his two-day visit to Turkey and his debut
tour to Europe later in the day after a round-table discussion with
university students.
Since his election, Obama has already won significant popularity in
Turkey, a NATO member and a key Muslim ally of the United States,
and is keen to improve ties that chilled over the US invasion of
neighbouring Iraq in 2003 and former president George W. Bush’s
policies in the Middle East.
A public opinion poll found in February that 39.2 percent of Turks
had confidence in Obama, making him "the most trusted leader" in
Turkish eyes.
In 2005, only 9.3 percent said they trusted Bush, giving him only
a slight lead over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who had the
confidence of 4.6 percent.
On Monday, Obama met with Turkish leaders in Ankara, hardening
his message in support of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union,
despite the opposition of EU heavyweights France and Germany.
Turkey and the United States, he said, could set an example to the
world by building a "model partnership" based on democratic values,
including respect for religious diversity.
In more pointed messages, Obama called on Turkey to step up EU-demanded
democracy reforms and broaden the freedoms of non-Muslim minorities
and the restive Kurdish community.
He urged normalisation of ties with Armenia, while signalling that
Washington would not interfere in their dispute on whether the mass
killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th
century was genocide.
Obama’s decision to include Turkey to his first trip to Europe is
largely seen as an effort to keep the country firmly anchored in the
West through its NATO membership and EU accession bid.
Turkey has is been a key US ally in a strategic region between Europe,
the Caucasus and the Middle East, bordering troubled countries such
as Georgia, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
But the country’s Islamist-rooted government has recently given rise
to fears that it is drifting away fom the West, forging closer ties
with countries such as Iran and Sudan and welcoming leaders of the
radical Palestinian movement Hamas in Ankara.