Erdogan: "Turkish-US relations are making good progress"

Turkey and the US must strengthen their cooperation to build a better world, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday, Speaking to the German Marshall Fund in Washington, he said the two countries' foreign policy priorities share much in common "This, in the face of issues of common concern, makes stronger cooperation between our two countries a necessity for both bilateral interests and international stability and peace," Erdogan added. "Over 50 years of strong ties of alliance and partnership between Turkey and the US are continuing at a satisfactory level as a result of expanding foreign policy agendas and overlapping priorities of the two countries." He said that during his meeting with US President Obama earlier this week, they reached a strong agreement to improve bilateral ties based on the model partnership model Obama proposed when visiting Turkey this April. On the ruling party's performance, Erdogan said, "There has been a great transformation in Turkey under the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)." He also said the Turkish economy remains relatively undamaged by the global economic crisis thanks to its sound financial system. Rejecting claims of an axis shift in Turkish foreign policy, Erdogan said, "Some people paint a false picture of the active foreign policy Turkey has taken in recent years. There has been no axis shift in our foreign policy. Turkey works to bring stability to its region. The role we try to play in the region also serves global peace." On the government's democratic initiative, Erdogan said, "The Turkish government's recent national unity efforts will yield important results in eliminating the terrorist PKK from northern Iraq." On the international dispute over Iran's nuclear program, Erdogan said, "Turkey can play a key role between Iran and other countries with regard to its controversial nuclear activities. Mr. Obama expressed his pleasure at our relations with Iran. We can serve as a diplomatic channel in talks with Iran." Also speaking in a interview with public TV network PBS yesterday, Erdogan criticized the European Union's stance towards Turkey, saying, "They've kept us waiting for 50 years. If they have a different view of Turkey's accession, they should tell us about it honestly." Erdogan added, "They say Turkey is a big country with big population, and would be a burden. We will be there to share the burden. There are already 5 million Turkish citizens in Europe." Erdogan brushed aside claim that Turkish foreign policy is placing more importance on the East and Islamic countries and less on Europe. "Turkey has never considered the East an alternative to the West, or the South an alternative to the North," he said. "Turkey is going through a normalization process and is working to maintain positive relations." Erdogan said Turkey, as a democratic, secular state under the rule of law, acts a bridge between the West and the Islamic world. Stating that Turkey co-chairs the Alliance of Civilizations with Spain, he added that Turkey is the only majority-Muslim nation in NATO.