On April 1, members of a Congressional Delegation to Turkey met with H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Foreign Minister of Turkey. Members of Congress participating in the meeting were Rep. Ed Whitfield, Chair of the Congressional Turkish Caucus; Rep. Jim Moran, a member of the Turkish Caucus; and Rep. Donna Edwards. The delegation was sponsored by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) and is the first of its kind since the recent vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The Turkish Coalition of America is delighted that there was productive conversations at many levels regarding US – Turkey relations and the positive role that Turkey plays in the region,” said G. Lincoln McCurdy, President of TCA. “Consistently having a positive and constructive dialogue is a key element to maintain the strong relations between our two nations.” The delegation and the Foreign Minister discussed the key role that Turkey is playing in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of interest to both the United States and the Republic of Turkey.
Following the meetings, members of the Congressional Delegation provided the following comments:
Congressman Ed Whitfield: “I thanked the Foreign Minister for taking the time to meet with our group. We congratulated him on his recent success with the Serbian recognition of violence committed against Bosnians in the war. It speaks volumes about the Foreign Minister’s efforts in that part of the world. The three of us didn’t vote on the Armenian Genocide resolution. We highly value relations with Turkey. We are going to continue to do whatever we can to make sure the resolution doesn’t move forward. We also hope that President Obama will be more aggressive in his stance against it.”
Congresswoman Donna Edwards: “This is my first visit to Turkey and I definitely plan to come back. I appreciate the hospitality received as well as all we have learned about the unique perspective of strategic relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Thank you for what you are doing in Afghanistan in support of efforts there. The role that Turkey plays