ANKARA BELIEVES THAT OBAMA WILL RESPECT TURKEY’S CONCERNS REGARDING APRIL 24

Anadolu Agency
April 17 2009
Turkey

Ankara believes that U.S. President Barack Obama will respect Turkey’s
concerns over his speech to be delivered on April 24 and will not risk
relations with Turkey. Obama’s his first overseas visit to Turkey
after he took office was considered as the start of a new period in
Turkish-U.S. relations

The visit created the impression in Ankara that the United States
was willing to boost cooperation, consultation and solidarity with
Turkey and implement strategic partnership in real sense.

Turkey-Armenia relations were high on the agenda during Obama’s talks
in Turkey.

Ankara reaffirmed that 1915 incidents should be left to historians,
indicating that discussion of the matter in the U.S. Congress may
have negative impact on Turkish-U.S. relations.

Ankara thinks that any step that would impede the process would not
be taken and Obama would not like to lose Turkey. (AY-CE)