President Obama was in Turkey on Monday to deliver a speech to Turkey's Parliament. Obama expressed his desire for the United States to build a positive relationship with Islam and he has decided to start in Turkey.
Turkey is seen as being a perfect place for the U.S. to start. Turkey recently went through a political power shift that landed a new group of elites in office. The old regime was a secular while the new one incorporates Islam into the government. Turkey's new Prime Minister is Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Obama spoke to both the old and new regime during his speech. He talked about wanting to establish a strong and secular democracy in Turkey. Obamas vision of a strong and secular democracy seemed to please both regimes.
Sedat Ergin, the editor of Milliyet, a newspaper in Turkey that has questioned the new regimes religous roots, saw Obama's speech as a step in the right direction. “The most important part of his speech was the emphasis on the secular democratic structure in Turkey. He won back hearts of the secular circles in Turkey," said Ergin.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/world/europe/07turkey.html?_r=1
Steve Lyons
Journalism 311 student
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