Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Meets with Turkish FM

Secretary Clinton was still in NY today and among her many meetings, was one with the foreign minister of Turkey:

SECRETARY CLINTON: (In progress) we’ve developed (inaudible) openness in what is often very difficult circumstances with the many challenges that we face. Good morning. Good morning. Well, this is a special privilege and pleasure.

FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Same.

SECRETARY CLINTON: It represents the importance of the U.S.-Turkish partnership. And the foreign minister and I speak on a regular basis on a range of issues that are important, including energy and Turkey’s EU accession process and the normalization efforts with Armenia and the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, the Middle East. There’s hardly an issue that we do not discuss.

And I very much appreciate the strong commitment that the Turkish Government has made to the Armenia normalization process, and I also am very grateful for the strong relationship that the United States and Turkey have had, which continues today.

So thank you so much, Minister, for being with us.

FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Thank you very much, Madame Secretary. It is a great honor and privilege for me to meet with you again (inaudible). As has been described by President Obama, our relations (inaudible) model in the sense of (inaudible) both the depth and the scope of our relations, from Middle East to Central Asia, from EU to (inaudible) almost in all fields, and recently this year we are also member of United Nations Security Council (inaudible) another area of cooperation. So therefore we need to talk and consult (inaudible). We have been doing this by phone, through (inaudible) several occasions. Thank you very much again.

Other issues discussed (via the Miami Herald):

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday pressed Armenia and Turkey to follow through on their commitment to normalize relations after decades of hostility.

In separate meetings on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Clinton told the foreign ministers of the two countries that they should proceed apace and not get bogged down by political opposition to a deal, which they hope to seal by mid-October.

Normalization “should take place without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe,” Clinton said as she met Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. She later delivered a similar message to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, U.S. officials said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday that Turkey and Armenia would sign a deal to establish diplomatic ties on Oct. 10.

But the agreement must be approved by the countries’ parliaments to take effect and a major dispute remains over the World War I-era massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey insists it wasn’t a genocide and that the death toll is inflated.

The top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Philip Gordon, said the United States was eager for the deal, which also foresees the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border, and was anxious that it happen quickly.

“This is a difficult process that faces some political opposition in both places and it’s hard for both governments,” he told reporters after Clinton’s meetings. “It shouldn’t wait for other things to get done, or be linked to other things. It should go ahead.”

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