New Era in U.S. Foreign Policy: Prospects for Turkish-American Relations

Good afternoon,

It’s a great pleasure being here. Thank you, Chairman Osman Oztoprak, not only for your warm introduction but also for your persistence. You and Executive Director Haldun Yavas have been trying to get me to address a monthly luncheon of the Turkish Cultural Club for about five or six months.

Please don’t think I was reluctant to come before you. It’s just that my schedule has been hectic and unpredictable. This is an election year. Not only has Congress had a series of serious problems to deal with but this is also an election year.

And what an election year! First, the Democratic Party went through an exciting, nail-biting, nerve-racking presidential primary duel between two historic candidates: Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. And, now Senator Obama, the Democratic nominee, is locked in a grueling contest with Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee.

I’m deeply involved in trying to help elect the next president. Not to inject politics into your luncheon, but full disclosure requires me to say that I am confident the next president will be Barack Obama.

I’m also deeply involved in helping to elect as many Democrats as possible to the House and Senate. Our prospects look very good. But, we still have four weeks to go and anything can happen.

The credit crisis that threatens our financial system has preoccupied Congress particularly the House Financial Services Committee on which I serve. And the war in Iraq, the deteriorating situation is Afghanistan, and growing instability in many other parts of the world absorbs a great deal of the attention of another committee that I serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

All of this makes my schedule unpredictable. The convergence of war and crisis, of difficulties and possibilities, this close to what everybody agrees will be one of the most pivotal elections in U.S. history affords us an opportunity to consider the profound implications this election will have for American foreign policy.

I am confident that the candidate I am supporting will introduce precisely what you have entitled this afternoon’s conversation: “A New Era in U.S. Foreign Policy.” I would insert the word positive – “A New Positive Era in U.S. Foreign Policy. In this context, I anticipate forward-looking American foreign policy agenda that will enhance prospects for more robust American-Turkish relations.

Many Americans don’t realize how important Turkey has been and is to our interests in the Middle East and the world. What I would say is look at Turkey on a map. Study its proximity to simmering hot spots, to open military conflicts, to the world’s critical energy sources, to Europe. Turkey borders Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Greece, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey is strategically situated in relationship to the Balkans, the Caucasus, and as an indispensable energy and transit hub between Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Europe. Turkey’s growing economic power and diversity, its continued democratic development, military strength, and energetic foreign policy, makes it an equally indispensable strategic force for peace, progress, and prosperity in the Middle East.

Going forward, I would like to see the United States devote greater energy and effort to consolidating a strategic partnership with Turkey. It will be easier to achieve this goal if we take a number of precise steps to facilitate a closer working relationship. We must base these steps on mutual benefit, on respect for Turkey’s legitimate national interests, on direct diplomacy with all countries in the region, and above all, on ending the Iraq war in a responsible, systematic, and timely fashion.

I believe the next administration must show much greater sensitivity to Turkish sensibilities. This should include taking a long view of the difficulties Turkey faces in attempting to find a durable balance between democratic governance, the role of religion in public life, its internal inter-ethnic relations, and its efforts to grapple with the host of problems associated with managing the interplay of urbanization, immigration, and globalization in a manner in keeping with Turkish cultural traditions.

The next administration must also have a much more realistic appraisal of the limits of American influence in the Middle East. Based on that, it must develop innovative ways of augmenting its limited influence through diplomacy, bilateral relations, multilateral cooperation, and expanded commercial exchange.

This belief led me to co-found the bipartisan Congressional Dialogue Caucus in the House of Representatives. My colleagues and I hope this caucus will be able to inject realism and pragmatism into U.S. foreign policy. We believe it is counterproductive for the United States to base its foreign policy on dictating to others, on demanding that other countries fulfill a set of preconditions before we will even talk with them. I, for one, also believe that resorting to doctrines like preemption and regime change rather than relying primarily on direct diplomacy more often than not results in blowback against American interests rather than solutions to the problems at hand.

The combination of direct diplomacy, multilateral cooperation, and mutually beneficial trade, as opposed to an overemphasis on the use of force or the threat to use force fosters conditions conducive to peace, stability, and democratic progress. The less we involve ourselves, for example, and take sides on an ideological basis in Turkey’s internal struggle to manage the interconnection of democratization, secularism, and religion, the stronger our bilateral relationship with Turkey is likely to become.

There is much in the above respects that the United States should learn from Turkey. For instance, despite the opposition of the Turkish people and the Turkish government to our invasion of Iraq, Turkey has nonetheless played as constructive role as could be reasonably expected ever since. We continue to use the Incirlik Air Base in southeast Turkey for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. In fact, some 74 percent of all air cargo into Iraq comes through there.

Turkey used to be somewhat isolated in the region. But, no more. Now, Turkey plays a pivotal role in creating an environment conducive to addressing many of the region’s outstanding issues. The ruling Justice and Development Party has employed what it calls a “multidirectional strategic vision” to assert an independent course in foreign policy in the region and globally. Under this approach, Turkey advocates a common security framework, political dialogue, economic interdependence, and cultural as well as sectarian harmony.

Turkey has dramatically improved its relations with its neighbors. Turkey has much improved relations with Greece; maintains close political and economic ties with Syria; growing trade and energy ties with Iran; and good relations with Israel which is due in part to Turkey playing a positive mediating role in the search for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Turkey has also built well-rounded relations with the Central Asian republics and maintains its historically close ties with Azerbaijan.

Although some critics accuse Turkey of pursuing an “Islamic” foreign policy, the fact remains that the AKP has not ended Turkey’s membership in NATO nor given up on Turkey’s long term goal of joining the European Union.

As I see it, and this is the irony of the situation, Turkey’s more independent foreign policy actually enhances the United States’ foreign policy objectives in the region. Turkey’s independent course including energy and security cooperation with Iran and Syria, solid ties with Israel despite Turkey’s dialogue with Hamas accentuates the interdependence of the interests of Middle East nations, as well as those of the European Union, Russia, and the United States.

A foreign policy that many in the United States and elsewhere have called “anti-American” is in fact helping to solidify U.S.-Turkish bilateral relations while at the same time opening up additional avenues of influence for U.S. policy objectives. For example, while Turkey supports Iran’s right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes it has also called on Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And, Turkey categorically and absolutely opposes Iran developing nuclear weapons.

Over the objections of the Bush Administration, which seeks to the isolate Syria, Turkey has been able to utilize its relationship both with Syria and Israel to help engineer a restart of the Israeli-Syrian peace talks, again advancing U.S. policy objectives while not following U.S. foreign policy dictates.

Add all of these examples together. The sum total is a convincing argument for direct diplomacy and dialogue. Turkey’s contribution to safeguarding our interests in the region should inspire us to be more creative and more consistent in trying to help our longest ally in that region solve the problems it confronts.

For example, our invasion and resulting destabilization of Iraq created a situation in which the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) gained a safe haven in northern Iraq. From there the PKK has launched terrorist attacks on Turkey. We have to be more consistent in working with Turkey and the Iraqi authorities to address this problem.

All three countries have a profound interest in preserving Iraq’s territorial integrity and in suppressing terrorist organizations. Reconciliation of Iraqi political and ethnic forces, a resolution to sectarian violence, the consolidation of security, a consensus solution for the status of Kirkuk, the restoration of full commercial relations between Iraq and its neighbors, and the orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops, would do much to meet the shared interests of Turkey, Iraq, the region, and the United States.

Going forward into the next administration, provided it is an Obama administration, I anticipate a deepening and broadening of our strategic partnership with Turkey. I also anticipate Turkey’s growing role in world politics and the global economy. A measure of this can be seen in Turkey’s candidacy for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Let me stop here. I’m sure that I’ve been going on too long. Thank all of you for your attention. I’m more than willing to take a few questions.