SEVİL KÜÇÜKKOŞUM – Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey is keeping a close watch on the new members of the US Congress, with one eye trained on followers of the tea party movement. While Turkish officials aim to tell congressmen about Turkey’s foreign policy perceptions, Turkish-American citizens frequently visit new congressmen to discuss the needs of Turkish voters in their districts.
Turkey has started establishing close contacts with new members of the U.S. Congress, including those affiliated with the conservative and libartarian tea party movement, according to a senior diplomat.
“We want to have intense dialogue with new members of the Congress, including members of the tea party movement. We try to tell [congressmen] about Turkey in order to make them more familiar with our policies,” a senior Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Turkey faced a difficult period with the former U.S. Congress, in which the Democrats were the majority, especially over Armenian resolutions on alleged genocide in the 1915 incidents. But nowadays Ankara is seeking and maintaining closer dialogue with the new members of Congress. “Not only congressmen; we also keep in close touch with their staffers. We aim for every official Turkish delegation visiting Washington to come together with congressmen. Also we frequently invite them to Turkey,” he said, adding that they were focusing on followers of the tea party movement because most of them were not familiar with Turkey's foreign policy.
Turkish associations in the U.S., along with the Turkish Embassy in Washington, are increasing efforts to include more congressmen in the Turkish-American Friendship Group. “Their numbers decreased from 125 to 96 when Democrats left the Congress. However, that figure will soon exceed 125, since we have good relations with Republicans,” Kaya Boztepe, president of the Federation of Turkish-American Associations, or FTAA, told the Daily News on Wednesday.
“We try to reach as many congressmen as we can,” he said. “We have a study of newly elected congressmen. The first parties to reach those congressmen always win. Therefore, we have started an intense campaign to have meetings with new congressmen, and we do it as U.S. citizens,” Boztepe said.
“The Turkish ambassador can do this to a certain extent, but we, as the voters, aim to convince them,” he said, adding that they notify congress members who have Turks living in their electoral districts. “We, as the Turkish society, were always in the defensive position. From now on, we make our own agenda.”
The FTAA and the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations will hold a “National Leadership Conference” in March. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are expected to participate. Turkish-American relations and Israeli-Turkish relations are to be discussed at the conference.
“We want to bring our youngsters together and organize them. We want to show them options to study and ways to work in the White House and Congress,” Boztepe said. Twelve young Turks already have had internships in the U.S. Congress and three are working in Congress.
Intense dialogue with U.S. administration
Ankara does not expect new Armenian resolutions in the U.S. Congress in the upcoming period. “But of course we will be monitoring the April statement of the U.S. president,” the same diplomatic source said.
Turkey and the U.S. administration have achieved closer dialogue since last summer, following a period of strain over Iran’s nuclear program. “Ankara and Washington are on the same path regarding many issues, but some expressions on both sides were misread by the parties, particularly over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Turkey’s relations with its neighbor,” the source said. “We’re building more intense dialogue channels in order to prevent future misunderstandings.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s manner of address to Ahmedinejad as “his friend” drew reaction from political circles in Washington. Especially during his visit to Iran, Erdoğan’s declaration of his support for Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program created anxiety in the U.S. over the course of relations between Turkey and Iran, he said. “However, we tried to tell them Prime Minister Erdoğan gave that statement in order to commit Iranians to the promise they gave us at meeting,” he said.
President Abdullah Gül will pay an official visit to Iran on Feb. 13. Although Washington reads the intention of Turkey on its relations with Iran better, some diplomatic circles in Ankara say, “It would be better if the visit had not come up now.”
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
