Turkish-American Relations In Light of Recent Developments

Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) organized a meeting on November 1, 2006 hosting the Director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Mr. Bulent Alirıza, as the keynote speaker. The roundtable discussion organized by TEPAV was titled "Turkish-American Relations in Light of Recent Developments". Evaluating the Turkish-American relations one week before the mid-term elections in the US, Mr. Alirıza explained the reasons behind the possible electoral victory of the Democrats in the House and the Senate. During his speech, Alirıza explained the Turkish-American relations in three eras: From the Truman Doctrine until 1991, the era between 1991-2001 and the era after September 11, 2001 until now. He explained briefly the ups and downs of the relationship between the two countries. He later explained the effects of the recent developments in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, Palestine and Iran, on the domestic American politics. At the last section of his speech, he touched upon internal Turkish-Cypriot politics since he recently returned from Northern Cyprus and evaluated the Finnish proposals that recently form the agenda of Northern Cyprus, Turkey and international politics. The question and answer section of this round-table meeting created a fruitful discussion between prominent academics, journalists and retired politicians.