TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO U.S. DELIVERS A SPEECH ON SEVERAL MATTERS IN ANKARA

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Foreign Ministry deputy undersecretary Namik Tan who was appointed as
the ambassador in Washington, D.C. delivered a speech in a meeting
on Turkish-U.S. relations organized by Turkish Democracy Foundation
in Ankara on Tuesday.

Turkey has taken one of the most important steps of its history by
signing protocols with Armenia, Tan said.

In regard to Armenian allegations which are expected to debated at
the U.S. Congress in April, Tan said, "we expect that U.S. officials
will not take a negative step on the matter this year as well as
next years. There has been a comprehensive and fruitful cooperation
(between the two countries)."

Replying to a question on Iran, Tan said, "we are not in favor of a
military operation to Iran. Such operation has several risks and it
would spoil balance in the region. But this does not mean that Turkey
consents to nuclear weapon program of this country."

In regard to Turkish-U.S. relations, Tan said all matters on peace
and stability were related to the relations between Turkey and the
United States.

Both countries attached a great importance to issues like Balkans,
Caucasus, EU and Russia, he said.

Tan said Turkey and the USA should have a close cooperation to preserve
regional and global stability.

Touching on Turkey’s EU accession process, he said Turkey had some
shortcomings in regard to reforms, but the country would keep walking
on its path to EU. "Turkey will keep fulfilling reforms for Turkish
people," he said.

Answering a question on developments between Turkey and Israel,
Tan said, "the two countries don’t have any bilateral problem."

Tan said Turkish authorities made some criticisms regarding Israel’s
attack on Gaza for goodness of Israel and peace in the region.