"U.S.-Turkish Relations and the Challenges Ahead
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs
Testimony Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Europe
Washington, DC
March 15, 2007
As prepared
Chairman Wexler, Ranking Member Gallegly, Members of the Sub-Committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here. I will speak to you today about how the United States and Turkey are working together closely to address our common challenges, particularly in the Middle East but also more globally.
Secretary Rice has instructed me to shift the focus of the U.S.-Turkey relationship from one of simply managing challenges to one where the United States and Turkey are working cooperatively to advance a broad range of issues, putting in action our shared interests and common values. Our shared interests include stability and freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, democratic reform in the broader Middle East, energy security across Eurasia, and Turkey's deeper anchoring in Europe. Our common values start from our two countries' deep commitment to democracy. Turkey, a majority Muslim state with a deepening democracy with a tradition of secular governance, is of strategic importance to the United States. Its 160-year legacy of modernizing reform, dating back to the late Ottoman period, can inspire people throughout the broader Middle East who thirst for democratic freedom and market-based prosperity. "
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