Obama meets with Turkish University students

Turkish Press reported that on the last stop of his two-day landmark visit to Turkey, US President Barack Obama yesterday met with Turkish university students at a roundtable meeting in Istanbul’s Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Centre.

“I came to Turkey on my first trip overseas as president for a reason,” Obama told the students. “I came here to reaffirm the importance of Turkey and the importance of the partnership between our two countries. I came here out of my respect to Turkey’s democracy and culture and my belief that Turkey plays a critically important role in the region and in the world. And I came to Turkey because I’m deeply committed to rebuilding a relationship between the United States and the people of the Muslim world, one that’s grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect. Turkey and the United States have a long history of partnership and cooperation. Exchanges between our two peoples go back over 150 years. We’ve been NATO allies for more than five decades. We have deep ties in trade and education, in science and research. And America is proud to have many men and women of Turkish origin who have made our country a more dynamic and a more successful place. So Turkish-American relations rest on a strong foundation.”

The question-and-answer period of the meeting focused on several issues: climate change, northern Iraq, Iran’s controversial nuclear program, and Turkey’s potential European Union membership. Asked about French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s reaction against his recent remarks supporting Turkey’s EU accession bid, Obama said, “I think it is the right approach to have Turkey join the European Union. I think if Turkey can be a member of NATO and send its troops to help protect and support its allies, and its young men are put in harm’s way, well, I don’t know why you should also not be able to sell apricots to Europe, or have more freedom in terms of travel. So I think it’s the right thing to do. I also think it would send a strong signal that Europe is not monolithic but is diverse and that that is a source of strength instead of weakness.”

Asked about the possibility of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, Obama said, “We are very clear about our position on Turkish territorial integrity. Turkey is an ally of ours and part of what NATO allies do is to protect the territorial integrity of their allies. And we would be opposed to anything that would start cutting off parts of Turkey, and we have been very supportive in efforts to reduce terrorist activity by the PKK.” He added that his administration would continue to encourage Turkey’s efforts to expand the rights and freedoms of Turkish people of various religious and ethnic origins.

Obama left Turkey yesterday afternoon to pay a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq.

 

Source:

www.turkishpress.com