January 18, 2012 - APA
Washington. Isabel Levine – APA. The Azeri and Turkish Diasporas in the US strongly condemned the latest comments about Turkey made by Texas Governor Rick Perry during Republican’s Presidential Debate in South Carolina, APA’s US correspondent reports.
When asked during the debate for his opinion about Turkey, a member of NATO, long-time US ally, and second-fastest growing economy in the world, Perry offended Turkish Americans, as well as all students of foreign policy and diplomacy, by insulting Turkey’s democratically elected government officials and threatening Turkey’s membership in NATO.
“We’re happy to help educate Gov. Perry about the true value of U.S.-Turkey relations”, said both Azeri and Turkish Diaspora representatives in Washington DC.
The Diasporas reminded that, Turkey has been one of the largest contributors of support to US efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, including leading the NATO troops in Afghanistan three times, and providing over 70 percent of the international logistics support to US troops while they were in Iraq.
Turkish Coalition of America’s President G. Lincoln McCurdy and Ergun Kirlikovali, the President of American Turkish Assembly, also mentioned that, today, Turkey is a key partner of the US in an increasingly complex, multi-polar world, particularly, in the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, the Caucuses, and the Balkans.
