Regional Challenges to Post-Election Turkey

Transcript

AMBASSADOR PARRIS: It is an understatement to say that this is a timely discussion. Just a month ago some of us in this room were together at the Atlantic Council when Nick Burns gave a speech in which he expressed formally the intention of the Bush administration, as he put it, "To enter into a new era of our relationship and to commit to the revival of our very close friendship and alliance." He then identified an impressive list of issues on which he anticipated that the United States and Turkey would be able to work together, among them Iraq, Iran, Arab-Israeli peace, and Caspian and Central Asian energy transport. Nick went to Ankara a week later and there he seemed to find based on the press accounts that even on issues where the two sides largely agree on ends, like Iran's nuclear program, it may be a little harder than his speech suggested to find common ground on means. One thing he for sure got right, "One glance at the map demonstrates why it is so important to strengthen ties between our two countries. In an arc of countries where so much of our foreign policy attention, that is, American foreign policy attention, now lies, Turkey is the vital link for the United States and our European allies in addressing common economic, security, and political challenges and opportunities in this critical region."

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