Many Turks Excited about Barack Obama's arrival!

FrenchieCat

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Mon Apr-06-09 01:12 AM
Original message

Many Turks Excited about Barack Obama's arrival!

Commuters walk past advertisements depicting President Barack Obama
in a metro station in Istanbul

Turks see Obama's visit as proof of his commitment to building bridges with the Muslim world, as well as a reflection of the new administration's desire to have Turkey � with a Muslim majority but officially secular, democratic and a candidate for E.U. entry � play a much bigger role in the wider region.

Before his election Obama promised to visit a Muslim country within his first few months as president � and he has chosen one that had fraught relations with his predecessor in the White House. In 2003, Ankara broke with its traditional ally by refusing U.S. troops passage through Turkish territory to neighboring Iraq, an act of defiance from which ties never fully recovered. Public support for the U.S. in Turkey fell to historic lows as the war progressed. Washington was further aggravated by the Turkish government's pursuit of greater engagement with the Islamic world, including an energy deal with Iran and talks with leaders from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Both Washington and Ankara seem ready to start over. Both see Turkey playing an important role in regional issues, from Syrian-Israeli peace talks to oil and gas security in the Caucasus and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. "Under Bush, Ankara and Washington were divided on many fronts," says Sahin Alpay, politics professor at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. "With Obama, they are moving closer together on all of these."

It helps that Turks are already warming to the new president. One recent poll found that 39% of Turks said they trusted Obama; fewer than 10% said the same of Bush. Obama is so popular that a leading Turkish bank is running an ad campaign based on an Obama look-alike.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1889541,00.html

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Aloha Spirit

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Mon Apr-06-09 02:03 AM
Response to Original message

1. Obama's so popular that a leading Turkish bank has an ad campaign based on an Obama look-alike..

"... and posters of him are plastered on bus stops and walls around the city. In a country known for its skepticism, such widespread popularity is hard to come by."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/turkey/090405/turkey-welcomes-obama

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FrenchieCat

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Mon Apr-06-09 02:45 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. Still, there's that "Armenian genocide" issue still left to deal with....

Nothing ever easy for our President, is there? Shrug:

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bdamomma

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Mon Apr-06-09 08:44 AM
Response to Reply #2

4. hopefully the Armenian issue will be resolved.

Armenians are listening and watching carefully.

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Aloha Spirit

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Mon Apr-06-09 09:01 AM
Response to Reply #4

7. Well, I've read that Armenia-Turkey relations are improving

despite refusal to acknowledge the genocide.
I really like this reporter, here's a background article

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/turkey/090317/between-rock-and-hard-place

and here's a quote from the link I posted earlier
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/turkey/090405/turkey-welcomes-obama

Turkey is concerned about how the U.S. will handle the massacres of Armenians that occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1915. For years, Obama has called the incident "genocide" and promised to recognize it as such if elected president. Turks vehemently deny any mass killings, and Erdogan, in a speech Friday in London, again dismissed the "so-called genocide."
�It was in the past and bringing it up is just another excuse to make a fight,� said Yesim Tunc, 29, a dancer living in Istanbul. �Wouldn�t it be nice if we can get over it and think about the future?�
The recent warming of relations between Turkey and Armenia � and the rumors that they could soon announce a deal aimed at reopening their borders and restoring relations � may provide Obama with the excuse he needs to bow out of the issue gracefully.
�Obama needs a moral cover to not use the g-word because he has based his ascendancy on a kind of morality play. Now the AKP have very effectively provided him with a story that he can embrace and emerge with his dignity intact,� said David Judson, editor-in-chief of Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.

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stillcool

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Mon Apr-06-09 08:29 AM
Response to Original message

3. Why is Turkey so high on the list?

Such approval is important to healing US-Turkish relations. In June, a Pew poll found that out of 47 countries, Turks had the least favorable view of the U.S. As a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris, recently expressed it, the Bush administration left US-Turkish relations �worse than he found them�.

Did we kill thousands of them too?

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ClarkUSA

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Mon Apr-06-09 08:48 AM
Response to Reply #3

5. They are the only democratic secular Muslim country in the Middle East.

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Aloha Spirit

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Mon Apr-06-09 08:56 AM
Response to Reply #3

6. It's entirely because of Bush... remember when he wanted to attack Iraq across the Turkey border

Edited on Mon Apr-06-09 09:02 AM by Aloha Spirit

and Turkey refused Bush to use their Iraq border as a northern front in the initial attack.
Then, there were bombings in Istanbul including some British targets.
The war in Iraq, and increased terrorism in the region, is really unpopular in Turkey.
I think that's why the people don't like the US that much.
Edit--also a factor is the impact the Iraq war had on Turkey's efforts to deal with the PKK.

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