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Obama, Turkey and History
Murray Fromson, Huffington Post, April 7, 2009
For those of us who have lived abroad for many years and despaired of the way the image and reputation of the United States had been tarnished during the past eight years, it was a welcome relief to hear the message delivered by Barack Obama in Turkey. From the podium of the National Assembly in Ankara, he spoke not only to Turks, but to the entire Muslim world and he carved out an image of a global statesman.
The United States, he said, "is not and never will be at war with Islam" and that " America's relationship cannot and will not be based on opposition to Al Qaeda." That had to to resonate from Morocco on the Atlantic to Indonesia on the Java Sea. He drew generous applause by reminding Turkey's politicians, its president, prime minister as well as its generals and admirals in the audience that "the United States has been enriched by its Muslim Americans" and that "many other Americans have Muslims in their families or they have lived in a Muslim majority country. I know," he said, "because I am one of them."
The President pledged to support Turkey's admission to the European Union. He urged dialogue with the Republic of Armenia and by inference with Greek Cypriots to bring peace and stability to what until now has been the divided island of Cyprus. He cited Turkey's friendly relations with Israel and hoped that ways could be found to bring peace with it and the Palestinians and a resolution of its own differences with Kurdish opponents both in neighboring Iraq and Turkey. But he was quick to say the United States opposed the Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey, as it does all forms of terrorism.
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Also See:
Transcript: Turkey's future lies with Europe - Washington Post
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