Babacan calls Obama's coming visit the result of Turkey's rising role in the region

In a televised interview yesterday, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said US President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey next month is the result of Turkey's strengthening role in its region. "Obama's visit is a natural outcome of Turkey's increasing role in its region," he said. Babacan said Obama had started to revise US foreign policy after talking office, and that the new US administration is doing more listening, taking recommendations, and working to forge closer cooperation with its allies. Obama's trip and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Ankara are signals of this change in US foreign policy, Babacan said. On a resolution about the incidents of 1915 in the US Congress, Babacan said Turkey is working against the resolution through meeting with congressmen and other US officials, and explaining Turkey's views and how the resolution could hurt Turkish-US relations. Stressing that Turkey's efforts to normalize its relations with Armenia are going well, Babacan said the resolution could be very important as a sign of the US stance on the 1915 incidents. Touching on Turkey's European Union accession bid, Babacan also said, "Especially after the local elections, a new window of opportunities will open for Turkey to pass more reforms before the next general elections of 2011. We hope that this new era will not see more domestic political problems." He added that Turkey had introduced 30 EU reforms in 2007 and 2008.