Atlantic Council of the United States
Global Leadership Series

General Scowcroft, President Kempe, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman, thank you for your generous introduction. I am, indeed, honored to be introduced by General Scowcroft who is an international icon of wisdom and experience. It’s a distinct pleasure for me to speak today at the Atlantic Council of the Unites States which has been, for many decades, successfully representing the transatlantic community’s key ideals, values, and, indeed, the very purposes – namely, democracy and security.

More than that, we came to a profound understanding about what it is to be free. We realised through the pain and suffering, the difference between deferring to those in power and deciding who they are; between the rule of law and the caprice of dictatorship; between the right to speak out and the silence of the fearful.

Turkish-American relations benefit from a broad-based consensus that cut across party lines. Our alliance in NATO always formed an important aspect of our relationship. As underlined in the share vision and struggled dialogue document between Turkey and the United States, the relationships between the two countries is characterized by strong points of friendship, alliance, mutual trust, and unity of vision. We share the same set of values and ideals in our regional and global objectives: the promotion of peace, democracy, freedom, and prosperity.

We also do cooperate against asymmetrical threats around the world. Turkey and the United States have worked and stood together on many occasions from Korea to Afghanistan. This is a strong portfolio and a valuable background to look ahead. Turkey’s friendship with the U.S. is also more important than the sum of the components of the bilateral relationship. From the Cold War to today, this relationship also evolved. Let me look at the top-10 foreign issues of the United States and the top-10 foreign policy issues of Turkey. You would find that at least seven or eight of them are actually identical issues. What’s more, our targets are very same targets. Sometimes our methods, or how to reach those targets, could change although we do have the same destination. More