‘PARTY CLOSURES NOT CONDUCIVE TO DEMOCRACY’

Today’s Zaman
Dec 22 2009
Turkey

A former US ambassador to Turkey has said that party closures and
bans on political leaders do not encourage democracy from an American
viewpoint.

Answering questions from the Anatolia news agency in Washington,
current Ambassador James Jeffrey’s predecessor, Ambassador Ross
Wilson, said that the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP)
has both legal and political grounds. He added that he does not have
anything to say regarding the legal grounds but politically it is
not in parallel with the American way of thinking.

Regarding the formation of a new party and DTP deputies’ decision
to join that party, Wilson said the move could contribute to the
continuation of Turkey’s democratic initiative.

Wilson also said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent
visit to the White House was productive. Regarding the "model
partnership" concept coined by US President Barack Obama during his
visit to Turkey this year shortly after taking office, Wilson said
Turkey and the United States share a number of mutual interests and
should work on their relationship to increase their cooperation.

About the "axis shift" regarding Turkey’s foreign policy orientation,
Wilson said that Turkey’s steps to improve its relations with Iran,
Syria and other Middle Eastern countries and its rapprochement
with Armenia are all good and not a sign of a decrease in Turkey’s
inclination toward the European Union and NATO.

In regards to Turkey’s relations with Iran, Wilson said Turkey has
been quite clear in its messages to Iran. He added that Turkey does
not want proliferation of nuclear weapons in its region and wants Iran
to be integrated into the international community. Wilson stressed
that Turkey is in a position to help those states that are concerned
about Iran’s actions in a region where there are already many problems.