PM Erdogan at G20 meeting (AP)
"Turkey remains as ever a key ally and strategic partner of the United States and an important member of the NATO alliance. It is also a member of the G-20 with one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and it is currently a member of the UN Security Council."President Obama nominated Ricciardone to serve as ambassador to Turkey on July 1, 2010. On July 20, 2010, the ambassador testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His testimony is the most recent and comprehensive statement of the administration’s Turkey policy.
For decades Turkey and the United States have cooperated intensively to promote regional stability through many specific areas of collaboration, including countering terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; resolving regional conflicts; promoting energy security; expanding trade, investment, and economic development; and, essential and integral to all of these, strengthening democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Several such strategic priorities merge in cases of particularly immediate consequence, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, the quest for peace between Israel and all its neighbors, and Iran’s evident pursuit of nuclear weapons. On these last two, we have had concerns, especially our disappointment on Turkey’s vote against UNSCR 1929 and in the deterioration of Turkey’s relations with Israel. Other conflicts with historical antecedents require no less sustained and intensive joint attention and cooperation, including the unresolved issues of Cyprus and normalization of relations with Armenia. Access the full testimony>>
