MINISTER BABACAN MEETS WITH OBAMA AIDES IN WASHINGTON
TODAY’S ZAMAN, TURKEY
JUNE 11 2008
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met advisors of the Republican and
Democratic candidates for the US presidency before wrapping up his
lengthy visit to the United States on Monday.
Babacan met with the campaign advisors to Senator Barack Obama,
who recently secured the Democratic candidacy after a close race
with rival Hillary Clinton, and Senator John McCain, the Republican
candidate. Babacan also met with Clinton advisors; the New York
senator withdrew her bid for the nomination over the weekend.
During the term of outgoing President George W. Bush, Turkey-US ties
suffered a huge blow in 2003 when the Turkish Parliament rejected
a US request for military cooperation in the Iraq War. Since then,
the relationship has seen several disagreements over the Iraq War
and US inaction toward the presence of terrorist operatives of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. Relations
were put back on track after Bush declared the PKK a "common enemy"
and the US military began to cooperate with Turkey in the fight
against the PKK in northern Iraq.
The Turkish military has been conducting aerial strikes against PKK
targets in northern Iraq since December and in February the army
sent troops into the Kurdish-run region to hunt down PKK terrorists
there. The US shares intelligence about the PKK to support the
operations and Babacan said after talks with US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice that Turkish-US cooperation was under way against
the PKK.
Babacan’s talks with Obama and McCain aides are the first high-level
Turkish contact with would-be presidents. Ankara believes Turkey-US
ties will remain strong no matter which candidate is elected, but
observers say there are some concerns over the fate of ties if Obama is
elected, because the Democratic candidate, unlike Clinton or McCain,
may not be fully aware of the importance of good ties with Turkey at
the beginning.
Iran’s nuclear program, Syria, Turkish-American relations and the
situation in Iraq were discussed during Babacan’s talks with Clinton
and Obama aides, the Anatolia news agency reported. The foreign
minister also responded to questions on a closure case against his
Justice and Development Party (AK Party). He reiterated that it was
not clear when the court would hand down its verdict and that in
either case, the verdict would be final. He also expressed his views
regarding his party’s stance on secularism.
Energy issues and the Turkish economy were among other topics
discussed. Babacan also touched on efforts in the US Congress to
recognize Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman
Empire and said the issue should not cast a shadow over Turkey-US
ties. Babacan left Washington for Paris, where he will attend an
international conference on Afghanistan.