TURKISH AMBASSADOR INSISTS NO SHIFT IN FOREIGN POLICY

THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SHOULD RESIST THE EFFORTS OF ANTI-TURKEY LOBBIES TO INFLUENCE THE U.S. CONGRESS AGAINST MAINTAINING POSITIVE ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH HIS COUNTRY, NUZHET KANDEMIR, TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S., TOLD ATTENDEES AT A LUNCHEON ADDRESS AT GEORGIA TECH LAST WEEK.

INSTEAD, HE SAID, TURKEY SHOULD BE VIEWED AS AN IDEAL LOCATION FOR  ATLANTA COMPANIES INTERESTED IN INVESTING AT THE “CROSSROADS OF EAST AND WEST TRADE ROUTES.”

“WE HAVE QUITE NORMAL RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES EXCEPT FOR THE EFFORTS OF A NUMBER OF ANTI-TURKEY LOBBIES, SUCH AS THE GREEKS, ARMENIANS AND KURDS,” HE SAID, POINTING TO SEN. PAUL SARBANES, D-MD., WHO IS OF GREEK DESCENT, AS THE DOMINANT FIGURE IN CONGRESS FRUSTRATING THIS NORMALLY POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP. TURKEY HAS HAD BITTER RELATIONS HISTORICALLY WITH THE GREEKS OVER CYPRUS, AND BLOODY TERRITORIAL DISPUTES WITH ARMENIANS AND KURDS.

HE SAID THAT CONGRESS ACTED “AWKWARDLY” IN ITS SUPPORT OF AN ARMS EMBARGO OF TURKEY, FORBIDDING THE SALE OF 10 HELICOPTERS BY TEXTRON INC. TO THE TURKISH MILITARY.

DENYING THAT TURKEY WAS MAKING A RADICAL SHIFT IN ITS FOREIGN POLICY WHEN IT AGREED TO BUILD AN OIL PIPELINE TO IRAN, MR. KANDEMIR ADDED, “IN TURKEY YOU DON’T CHANGE FOREIGN POLICY OVERNIGHT.” TURKEY IS LOCATED IN “A TOUGH NEIGHBORHOOD,” HE SAID, BUT “WON’T TURN OUR BACK ON OUR NEIGHBORS. HE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED ITS ROLE IN THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION PACT AND IMPROVED RELATIONS WITH IRAN AND PAKISTAN.

HE ALSO REFERRED TO TURKEY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA BY REOPENING AIR ROUTES, ACCEPTANCE OF REFUGEES FROM AZERBAIJAN, EFFORTS TO SUPPLY ISRAEL WITH WATER, OPENING OF AN OFFICE IN SARAJEVO SO THAT IT COULD PARTICIPATE ECONOMICALLY IN BOSNIA’S RECONSTRUCTION, AND POSITIVE RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA ON WHICH IT IS DEPENDENT FOR NATURAL GAS.

HE POINTED TO TURKEY’S SUPPORT OF THE U.S. DURING THE GULF WAR, WHICH, HE SAID, BY CLOSING ITS BORDERS TO IRAQ COST HIS COUNTRY SOME $27 BILLION IN TRADE, AND REFERRED TO THE SIGNING OF A NEW FAVORABLE TAX TREATY WITH THE U.S. LAST YEAR WHICH IS TO BE RATIFIED BY CONGRESS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

THE LUNCHEON WAS SPONSORED BY GEORGIA TECH’S CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY, TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY IN COOPERATION WITH THE SAM NUNN SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.