CLINTON CALLS TURKEY ‘EMERGING GLOBAL POWER’ IN FOREIGN POLICY ADDRESS

Today’s Zaman
July 16 2009
Turkey

Voicing Washington’s eagerness for engaging in a full partnership with
Ankara, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has termed Turkey an
"emerging global power" along with countries such as China and Russia.

Clinton’s remarks came in a foreign policy address delivered on
Wednesday at a leading Washington-based think tank, the Council on
Foreign Relations.

"We are working with our key treaty allies Japan and Korea, Australia,
Thailand, the Philippines and other partners to strengthen our
bilateral relationships as well as with trans-Pacific institutions. We
are both a trans-Atlantic and a trans-Pacific nation," Clinton said.

"We will also put special emphasis on encouraging major and emerging
global powers — China, India, Russia and Brazil, as well as Turkey,
Indonesia and South Africa — to be full partners in tackling
the global agenda. I want to underscore the importance of this
task, and my personal commitment to it. These states are vital to
achieving solutions to shared problems and advancing our priorities —
nonproliferation, counterterrorism, economic growth, climate change,
among others. With these states, we will stand firm on our principles
even as we seek common ground," she added.

Clinton paid an official visit to Ankara in March, ahead of a landmark
visit by US President Barack Obama which took place in April. Clinton
and her then-counterpart, Ali Babacan, issued a joint statement during
the former’s visit vowing that their countries will consult each other
and cooperate closely on a wide array of issues ranging from peace
in the Middle East and Cyprus to Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and
energy security.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress