{"id":66909,"date":"2013-03-01T08:19:48","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T06:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=66909"},"modified":"2023-04-04T08:44:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T05:44:02","slug":"10-issues-john-kerry-should-address-during-his-visit-to-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2013\/03\/01\/10-issues-john-kerry-should-address-during-his-visit-to-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Issues John Kerry Should Address During His Visit to Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>\nBryant Harris<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66910\" alt=\"photo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/photo.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/photo.jpg 490w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/photo-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>10 Issues John Kerry Should Address During His Visit to Turkey<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content-body\">\n<p>In President Obama\u2019s trip to the Middle East at the beginning of his term, he used his speech in Ankara to\u00a0declare\u00a0Turkey \u201ca critical U.S. ally,\u201d and rightly so. As part of Secretary of State John Kerry\u2019s first overseas\u00a0tour, he too will be\u00a0visiting\u00a0Turkey on March 1. Here are 10 issues that Kerry should address in Ankara.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I. European Union membership<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unlike countries such as Greece, Italy, and Spain, which are\u00a0beset\u00a0with huge deficits and crushing austerity measures, Turkey\u2019s economy is strong and is the fastest\u00a0growing\u00a0in Europe. Europe can no longer afford to say no to Turkey. Thus, Germany\u2019s Chancellor Angela Merkel has\u00a0stated\u00a0that negotiations for Turkey\u2019s EU membership should resume. Europe must say yes to Turkey before Turkey says no to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Islamism in Arab democracies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no coincidence that Islamist parties throughout the Arab world call themselves the \u201cJustice and Development Party,\u201d in the style of Turkey\u2019s\u00a0governing\u00a0Islamist party. Under the Turkish acronym AKP, Turkey\u2019s Justice and Development Party has provided strong economic leadership and successfully ended the country\u2019s legacy of military coups. In contrast, hard-line, unyielding Islamist parties in Egypt and Tunisia have\u00a0produced\u00a0inept, divisive leadership and\u00a0censoredsecular opposition.<\/p>\n<p>Kerry should suggest that Turkey provides fledgling Arab democracies with guidance and advice, while encouraging fellow Arab Islamist parties to pursue more moderate, conciliatory policies that respect their opposition\u2019s right to the freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. The Syrian war<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When in Ankara, Kerry should\u00a0follow\u00a0up with the talks in Rome between Assad\u2019s regime and the rebels. Assad has chemical weapons and, if his regime is on the verge of collapse, may\u00a0use\u00a0them against his people and the neighbors he\u2019s alienated. Kerry should speak with Turkey about how it can help\u00a0cope\u00a0with the country\u2019s influx of refugees and establish peace and stability in Syria.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. U.S.-Russia cooperation on Syria<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ottoman and Turkish relations with Russia have historically been tense, both before and after the Cold War. However, Turkish-Russian bilateral economic relations are\u00a0indispensable, chiefly because Russia is the largest provider of natural gas to the rapidly growing Turkish economy. Despite Russia\u2019s obstinate support of Bashar al-Assad and UN vetoes against sanctions on his regime, Vladimir Putin has\u00a0stated\u00a0that Russia and Turkey \u201cshare the same goals in Syria\u201d but \u201cdiffer on how to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although Assad will likely not step down or implement any meaningful reform, the recent talks in Rome may convince Russia to be more assertive in ending the war by becoming tougher on Assad. Kerry could ask Turkey to facilitate multilateral negotiations with Russia in the interest of stabilizing Syria and the Turkish border.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Afghanistan withdrawal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Civilian casualties and controversial drone attacks have\u00a0marred\u00a0the U.S. led war in Afghanistan, partially due to the asymmetrical nature of the war. As such, despite its formidable military, Turkey has prudently\u00a0limited\u00a0its troops\u2019 involvement in the Afghanistan conflict to effective military support and training for Afghan forces. Hence, Afghans are much more receptive to Turkey than its other NATO allies. As the U.S. begins to\u00a0withdraw\u00a0from the conflict, handing the reigns over to Afghan forces, Kerry should discuss how Turkey can best use its resources to continue to support Afghan troops, which is now more vital than ever.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Iraqi political unrest and violence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Iraq has seen a\u00a0resurgence\u00a0of Sunni protests, accompanied by escalations in sectarian violence in the form of suicide\u00a0bombings\u00a0and\u00a0assassinations. After the quagmire that was President George W. Bush\u2019s Iraq occupation, any sort of U.S. diplomatic measures, even unbiased, well-intentioned ones, would make matters worse. Although Turkey and Iraq have dicey\u00a0relations\u00a0due to the Kurdish issue, the U.S. can rely on Turkey to advocate for a stable, equitable Iraqi government.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Turkish incursions into Kurdistan, Iraq<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the spirit of Palestine and Israel, when oppressed Kurds\u00a0attack\u00a0Turkish security forces or civilians, Turkey\u00a0responds\u00a0with disproportionate force, both at home and in Iraq\u2019s Kurdistan area, oftentimes\u00a0killing\u00a0a multitude of civilians in addition to militants. In one instance, the massacre of over 30 Kurdish civilians\u00a0involved\u00a0U.S. predator drone surveillance technology. Granted, the U.S. has no moral ground to stand on with its own civilian-killing drone program, but our government should oppose the murder of civilians in any country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Turkey\u2019s Kurdish issue<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like its neighbors, Turkey has a bad history of\u00a0marginalizing\u00a0its Kurdish residents, who therefore want to establish their own state. In the interest of human rights and stability, the U.S. should pressure Turkey to cease military attacks on the Kurds, which sometimes kill civilians, therefore prompting terrorist attacks from the PKK. Kerry should push Turkey and the Kurds towards peace talks, stressing Kurdish incorporation into Turkish institutions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2010 the Israeli\u00a0attack\u00a0on the Mavi Marmara and Gaza aid flotilla broke the straw on the camel\u2019s back and pushed Turkey away from a closer relationship with Israel towards one more sympathetic to Palestine. The U.S. has too much pro-Israel and anti-Palestine baggage to ethically arbitrate peace between the two countries and should thus encourage Turkey to try after Turkish-Israeli relations improve.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Iran\u2019s nuclear program and sanctions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As a result of Turkey\u2019s \u201cgood neighbor\u201d policy, it has taken a less hawkish, more nuanced stance on Iran than its NATO allies. Turkey\u00a0recognizes\u00a0Iran\u2019s right to nuclear energy for peaceful, domestic purposes and has thus\u00a0ignored\u00a0the crippling U.S. lead sanctions on Iran\u2019s economy, while complying with the UN backed sanctions, largely because Turkey is\u00a0growing\u00a0increasingly reliant on Iranian energy sources.<\/p>\n<p>Kerry well likely try to push Turkey to participate in all U.S. sanctions on Iran but should actually be encouraging Turkey to take an active diplomatic role in persuading Iran to cool hostilities with Israel and dissuading it from potentially obtaining a nuclear warhead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Picture Credit:\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bryant Harris 10 Issues John Kerry Should Address During His Visit to Turkey In President Obama\u2019s trip to the Middle East at the beginning of his term, he used his speech in Ankara to\u00a0declare\u00a0Turkey \u201ca critical U.S. ally,\u201d and rightly so. As part of Secretary of State John Kerry\u2019s first overseas\u00a0tour, he too will be\u00a0visiting\u00a0Turkey [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":66910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[4211],"class_list":["post-66909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-kerry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}