Turkey's Erdogan questions WikiLeaks legitimacy - Summary

Mon, 29 Nov 2010

Istanbul - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday downplayed the publication of secret US diplomatic cables that described him as ill-informed and sympathetic to Islamists.

Speaking in Istanbul before traveling to Libya for an Africa- European Union summit, Erdogan said the credibility of the WikiLeaks website that leaked the documents was "questionable", Turkey's news agency reported.

"That's why we are waiting to see what comes from Wikileaks. Then we can evaluate it and give an opinion," he said.

Three international news outlets - the New York Times, Britain's Guardian daily and Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine - began leaking the messages at the same time as Wikileaks.

They show US diplomats as being skeptical about Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party, believing it to be pushing an Islamist agenda, to be ill-informed and advised by a foreign minister with little appreciation of politics outside Ankara, the leaked cables said.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in Washington Monday to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and said the documents were among the topics. He pledged that no damage had been done in the relationship and that his country would continue to work with the United States on "the same principled foreign policy to achieve regional and global peace."

Davutoglu also was grateful that the United States briefed Turkey days in advance of the release of the documents. Turkey was one of many countries the United States reached out to before the release.

The dispatches were particularly harsh on Davutoglu. He was characterized as "neo-Ottoman" with little awareness of what went on outside Ankara, according to Der Spiegel. A cable quoted a senior Turkish official who told the embassy that Davutoglu exercised Islamist influence on Erdogan and that "he's dangerous."

Clinton did not mention the cables but said the United States and its NATO ally Turkey are committing to strengthening relations.

"Turkey and the United States have one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world," Clinton said. "We are very committed to continuing to strengthen and deepen that relationship."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355770,wikileaks-legitimacy-summary.html.