Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promoted open cooperation and diplomacy with the United States at the World Leaders Forum Thursday afternoon. He touched on the global economic crisis, the Iraq war, and the Iranian nuclear program.
Provost Alan Brinkley introduced Erdogan to a receptive audience gathered at the Casa Italiana, where attendees listened as Erdogan underlined the importance of fiscal responsibility from large nations, as well as his concerns about neighboring Iran.
The global financial crisis is the “hardest topic in world’s agenda right now,” Erdogan said, starting off his speech with a focus on fiscal issues. “International financial mechanisms have not protected us from the global financial crisis,” he said, requesting that the United States and other countries in power “take precautions to ensure such a crisis will not repeat again.”
The most effective solution, according to Erdogan, is government intervention. As a member of an association of the 20 largest national economies, Turkey has taken steps to help mitigate the impending financial crisis, Erdogan said.
Erdogan also mentioned the mutual goals of Turkey and the United States regarding foreign policy, pointing out that “we have common ideas and a common vision.” It is in the interests of Turkey to see the “eradication of terrorist organizations in Iraq,” the prime minister added.
But to Erdogan, the instability and sectarian violence brought on by the Iraq war has not paved the road to peace. “We want Iraq to go back to six or seven years ago,” Erdogan said. He added that the civil war starting in American-occupied, pre-democratic Iraq will only add instability to the region.
Perhaps more threatening, Erdogan said, is Turkey’s neighbor to the east: Iran. The prime minister said the problems arising from a nuclear Iran are immensely troubling, but that his country is “making a distinction between using nuclear material for energy and for weapons of mass destruction.”
Though critical of his neighbor’s nuclear weapons program, Erdogan also found fault in America’s approach to Iran. “Nuclear weapons are being harbored in many countries,” he said. Simply forcing others to disarm is “not an honest step to take.”
“Let’s eradicate these weapons once and for all,” Erdogan suggested. “Let’s come and meet, let’s talk, let’s love. ... We don’t want to live in a world of conflict.”
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