The Rumi Forum presented "US-Turkish Relations After Obama's Visit" with Ambassador Mark Parris, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution

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On April 30, 2009 during the Rumi Forum Luncheon Series, Mark Parris, former Ambassador to Turkey, spoke about the improvement of US-Turkish relations since President Obama’s recent visit to Turkey. Overall, Parris was extremely pleased with the direction of bi-lateral relations between the two countries; however, there are still some questions and tribulations that must be addressed. One of the “traps” that Parris is most concerned about is the continuing Armenian issue. In the past, Obama has referred to the Armenian question in a disfavorable light to the Turks. Although there was a fear that this would cause tension between the two countries, Obama’s recent visits to Turkey have proven otherwise. Parris is convinced that these comments have done no lasting harm and that the new administration has effectively avoided this “trap” in US-Turkish relations.

In the past, US relations with Turkey have been relegated to the bureaucratic level. It would seem that the new administration’s intentions are to create high level involvement with this very important nation. This has been demonstrated through numerous high level diplomatic visits including President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, and many others. Parris ended by stating that through these visits it has been found that despite some differences, both Turkey and the US share the same list of priorities on their foreign policy agenda’s such as Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, the EU and Turkey, and human trafficking.

Mark R. Parris is a former ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris served as a career foreign service officer including posts in the Soviet Union, Israel and Portugal. He also was a policy advisor for the U.S. State Department and National Security Council. Parris currently directs the "Turkey 2007" project at Brookings. As a career Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Parris retired in 2001 after 30 years of service that included assignments to Tel Aviv and Moscow, and policy level responsibilities at the State Department and National Security Council. His three years in Ankara were a high point in recent U.S.-Turkish relations. Since leaving government he has remained involved with Turkey as senior advisor with the Washington office of Baker Donelson, PC and as chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of Turkey, the Advisory Board of the American Turkish Council, and now with the Brookings Institute.

Moderator :

Dr. David C. Cuthell is the Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University. He attended Phillips Academy and Yale, graduating in 1975. He received his MBA from Columbia University in 1979 and received his PhD in History. His research at Columbia focused on the 19th century immigration of Muslims from the Caucasus and the Crimea and their role in transforming late Ottoman Anatolia. Dr. Cuthell has taught at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey where he headed the Turkish, Middle East and Central Asian Studies Program from 2000 through 2004. Dr. Cuthell is a member of the Advisory Board of the Middle East Institute, a Trustee of Robert College in Istanbul and a Trustee of Paul Smith College in the Adirondacks.