December 8th, 2009 by Zack

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan met with President Obama yesterday.  While the statements regarding the meeting “were typically brief and laudatory” (see C-SPAN video of the press conference)  Steve Clemons writes that the most consequential statement was Erdogan’s announcement of his desire to increase societal cooperation between the two countries: “Of course, there are many sides to the development of this relationship — be it in the economic area, in the areas of science, art, technology, political areas and military areas.  We have also appointed two people from our side to act as counterparts in order to liaise with their American counterparts to continue on this process. Those two people are the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Ali Babacan; and the Minister of State responsible for economic affairs, Mr. Zafer Caglayan.”  Clemons sees the build up of civil society ties as an important way to build a more pro-American posture in Ankara.

The White House released a statement explaining that Obama and Erdogan discussed Turkey’s continued role in Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear crisis, strengthening Turkey’s role in NATO, and normalizing Turkish/Armenian relations.  However, The LA Times reports that Obama failed to win any immediate pledges of support for Afghanistan or Iran, on which Erdogan urged further diplomacy and rejected sanctions.

Posted in Afghanistan, Diplomacy, Iran, Turkey, US foreign policy |