US lawmaker criticizes Turkey's foreign policy

As a leading American lawmaker accuses Turkey of planning a major realignment of its foreign policy, the U.S. secretary of state says that Washington and Ankara continue to share a vital partnership and common strategic interests.

“I am very concerned with the direction of Turkey. It seems to me, at least, that Turkey is contemplating a fundamental realignment,” Steve Israel, a Democratic representative from New York, said at a congressional hearing Thursday.

“With respect to Iran, Turkey has exhibited irresponsible behavior in my view, undermining international efforts to slow Iran’s march to nuclear weapons, defending Iran’s position,” Israel said, according to a transcript of a hearing by the House Appropriations Committee’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee on next year’s budget.

The U.S. congressman criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government, blaming them for the worsening ties between Turkey and Israel, and accused Turkey of “continuing an illegal occupation in Cyprus” and “denying the Darfur genocide.”

Ironically, Israel was one of the few Democratic lawmakers who staunchly defended Turkey against an Armenian “genocide” bill debated in the House of Representatives in 2007. One Washington analyst said his recent remarks may reflect the growing frustration of many U.S. politicians over the growing Turkish-Israeli tensions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, said that the United States and Turkey are working together from the Balkans to Afghanistan. “We believe we share a vital partnership, common strategic interests and, of course, membership in NATO,” she said.

“With respect specifically to Iran, Turkey shares a long border with Iran,” she added. “It has a lot of cultural and religious ties; a lot of commercial ventures with Iran, and it has access to many of the Iranian decision makers.”

Noting that Ankara opposes Tehran’s acquisition of nuclear-weapons capability, Clinton said: “We have worked very hard to move the government of Turkey to a point where it will assist us in pressing Iran to respond to our demands. With respect to Israel, Prime Minister Erdoğan, based on humanitarian grounds, criticized Israel’s closure of Gaza.”

The U.S. secretary of state added that Turkey and Israel were both trying to get their relationship back on track.

/Hurriyet Daily News/