Sunday, 22 March 2009
By Kemal KENT, JTW
ANKARA - Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan defined on Sunday the U.S. president's scheduled visit to Turkey as a result of Turkey's role in its region. Babaan also said Turkey - Armenia dialogue goes well.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey was a result of Turkey's role in its region.
"Obama's visit is a natural outcome of Turkey's increasing role in its region," Babacan told the private Haberturk TV channel.
U.S. President Obama is expected to visit Turkey on April 6 and 7.
Babacan said that Obama had started to revise the U.S. foreign policy after he took office, and the new U.S. administration was listening to other views more, taking recommendations, and was in an effort to have a closer cooperation with its allies.
The Turkish foreign minister welcomed the United States' close dialogue efforts, and saw U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Turkey and the visit of President Obama scheduled for April as the signals of the U.S. interest in the region.
Babacan said Obama's visit would be his second abroad visit, following his visit to Canada.
The Turkish foreign minister referred to a resolution at the U.S. congress regarding the incidents of 1915, and said that Turkish executives were lobbying against the resolution in their meetings with congresspeople and other U.S. authorities.
Babacan said Turkish executives were explaining Turkey's theses and the possible negative effects of such a resolution on Turkish-U.S. relations.
The minister said Turkey aimed to normalize its relations with Armenia, and the process was going on well.
Babacan said that Armenian authorities were discussing Upper Karabakh dispute with the Azerbaijani authorities, and also said that the problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan were more complicated and deeper. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories, two times bigger than Gaza and Western Bank, have been Armenian occupation. Armenia does not recognise Turkey's national borders.
