Armenia’s withdrawal from Karabakh and the new US strategy for the war in Afghanistan are topics that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and US President Barack Obama might discuss during their meeting Monday, experts say. Erdoðan’s visit comes just days after Obama said he would boost US troops in Afghanistan and requested that his allies do the same
Turkey’s determination not to send combat troops to Afghanistan and its demand that Armenia pull out of a disputed Azerbaijani enclave will likely dominate a key meeting between Turkish and U.S. leaders, according to international-relations experts.
Experts responded to four questions on the critical issues: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran’s nuclear impasse with the West and the recent thaw in Turkish-Armenian relations. They shared their views with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review about what U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan might discuss during their meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
The meeting comes a few days after Obama’s decision to bolster the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops. As he departed for the United States, Erdoðan said Turkey would not send combat troops to Afghanistan.
Experts from both Turkey and the U.S. have echoed the same thoughts over Turkey’s decision on Afghanistan and said Erdoðan would stick to his government’s policy about staying on as peacekeeping forces in the
On Iran’s controversial nuclear drive, Semih Ýdiz, a columnist for daily Milliyet, said Erdoðan’s hand is weak on Iran, while Sabri Sayarý, an international-relations professor from Sabancý University, described the issue as the most sensitive one.
The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq will also likely be on the table during the meeting, Sayarý said.
Ýlter Turan, an international-relations expert from Bilgi University, said Erdoðan would seek the United States’ cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
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