Hürriyet, Turkey
April 12 2009

Obama visit a big story, says former ambassador to Turkey

ISTANBUL – When U.S. President Barack Obama invoked his countryâ??s
treatment of Native Americans in discussing the "events of 1915" before the
Turkish Parliament, it was a first for a U.S. leader, says a retired
American diplomat.

To former Ambassador to Ankara Mark Parris, Obamaâ??s visit to
Turkey was a big story. Parris shared his thoughts on the event in an
interview with Sevim Demiray, from daily Milliyet.

According to Parris, it was Obamaâ??s responsibility during the
visit to avoid words and deeds that could derail the sensitive and promising
negotiations underway as Turkey and Armenia seek to normalize
relationships. â??The Presidentâ??s point, of course, was
that ultimately nations are better off confronting the dark chapters they
all have in their pasts,â?? Parris said. â??I think he
should be taken at his word when he says he has not changed his views on the
events in Turkeyâ??s Ottoman past that he has called
â?`genocide.â??â??

Parris said the Obama administration takes Turkey very seriously and that
the revival of a U.S.-Turkey partnership that goes beyond rhetoric would be
an important development throughout the region and the world. He said the
main reasons for Obamaâ??s visit could be categorized in terms of
five main topics: Afghanistan-Pakistan, Iran, Russia and strategic energy
issues, Israeli-Arab relations and overall U.S. relations with the Muslim
world.

Replying to a question about the comments made by some Western observers,
who have said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?anâ??s
reactions at Davos and to Anders Fogh Rasmussenâ??s NATO candidacy
had hurt the Turkish leaderâ??s image, Parris said, â??I
think the Davos incident made a negative impression on American
audiences…. As for the Rasmussen affair, most Americans are probably
unaware that there was one. The only people inclined to draw conclusions
about the Prime Minister from that episode were those who had done so before
Rasmussen became an issue.â??

Parris also emphasized that though ErdoÄ?anâ??s performance
â?` as conveyed by the media â?` made a strong, and generally
negative impression on American audiences, â??predictions that
Davos would destroy Turkish-Israeli relations or undercut
Turkeyâ??s regional influence were clearly exaggerated.â??

â??My impression is that the damage to Turkish-Israeli relations
has in fact been contained,â?? the former ambassador
added. â??Even if Israeli confidence in Turkeyâ??s
impartiality has suffered â?` and it probably has â?` Israeli
leaders value their strategic relationship with Turkey.â??

Influence in Afghanistan, Pakistan
Turkey has been a big help, and still could aid in the U.S. war in
Afghanistan, Parris said, adding that one major reason for the visit was an
awareness of Turkeyâ??s long-standing influence on both sides of
the Afghan-Pakistan border (as reflected in the trilateral meeting President
Gül convened just before Obama arrived), the role the country had
played in the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, and the kind
of â??soft powerâ?? Turkey could bring to this effort.

Defining these vital contributions as the Obama administration got its
Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy underway, Parris added that even if Turkey
says no to the U.S. request to send combat troops to Afghanistan, it would
not be a threat to the potential partnership, as other types of
contributions to the effort would be welcomed by the United States.

In response to a question about Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that is the
subject of a longstanding dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Parris
said the U.S. would be prepared to encourage both countries to show the
necessary flexibility to reach an agreement. â??Thatâ??s
what â?`full support’ implies,’ he said.

Parris also answered a question about Obama using the term `Kurdish
minority’ at speech he gave to students in Istanbul, saying it was a slip of
the tongue. The former ambassador added that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party,
or PKK, would remain on the U.S. terrorism list and that the U.S. would
continue to cooperate with Turkey in its effort to defeat the PKK.

Mark Parris was the American ambassador to Ankara between 1997 and 2000 and
was known as the architect of a major expansion of relations between Turkey
and the United States, culminating in President Clinton’s designation of
Turkey as a "strategic partner" in November 1999. Parris played a pivotal
role in defining and advancing U.S. objectives with respect to the
Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan oil-export pipeline and an associated gas pipeline.