Welcome to The Senate Site

By John Valentine
Utah State Senate President

I just returned from an absolutely amazing two week visit to the Republic of Turkey and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Hoping that it might be of some interest to the citizens I represent, I'm going to offer a couple blog installments on the people and places in this region of the world that may have an impact here in Utah.

The visit to Turkey was sponsored by an organization of the nation's Senate Presidents. Twenty two of the United States' Senate President's and their spouses participated in intense discussions about the ongoing relationship between the United States and this influential nation of the Middle-East, and what it means to our home-states. (To answer the question before it is asked: No taxpayer money was used for either trip.)


So what did I learn, what were the "take-aways" from these meetings? Well, I filled two notebooks with my notes and brought back an overweight suitcase of information, including local press coverage of the meetings. It would be an understatement to say there is a growing schism between the U.S. and most of the Islamic world. By way of contrast, Turkey is a western-oriented, democratizing Muslim Country, that has been a steadfast alley of ours in the region since the creation of Republic of Turkey in 1923 from of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. It is strategically more important to the United States than ever, helping to bridge major gaps between us and much of the Middle East.

A brief history lesson: In A.D. 330, Constantine, Emperor of Rome, founded Constantinople which today is called Istanbul. It became the center of the Byzantine Empire, dominating Eastern Europe for over a thousand years. In 1453 the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and created an even larger empire, surviving until World War I. It chose the Central Powers as its allies and was broken up after the end of the War. Although most of the Republic of Turkey is in Asia it has - since the end of the First World War - been tied more closely to Europe. It joined NATO in 1952, was a major alley during the Korean War and is now attempting to gain full membership in the European Union. The historian Disraeli observed: “Turkey is the land of the future and will remain so.”

Today Turkey is the 20th largest world economy, exporting goods worth $400 billion annually. It is at the center of most transportation routes between Europe and Asia. Her growing economy is more robust than France or Germany - in fact, if Turkey were admitted into the European Union, it would be the strongest single-country economy in the Union.

When we flew into Istanbul, the harbor was dotted with literally thousands of ships making their way between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. If one measures the economic vitality of a country by its traffic, then Turkey’s economy is very healthy. Click this picture to enlarge it. You'll see the buildings are old, the cars are new and the streets are clean. A fascinating, beautiful nation.

Tomorrow I'll post an overview of some of the primary issues in the relationship between our nation and Turkey.

[Update: here it is.]

4 Comments:

 CraigJ said...

Sen. Valentine,

What's your opinion of the Turkish Government's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide?

10/11/2007 9:32 PM  

 John Valentine said...

I don't think we should be forcing that question right now. In my home, the time to bring up old tragedies and past arguments would not be the moment the kitchen is on fire. I'd work with my family to put the fire out and deal with other issues when the situation stabilized. I think both endeavors would have more chance of success that way.

In light of the several major miracles the U.S. needs to pull off over the next few months in our relationship with Turkey and the Middle East in general (see my 10/10/07 post) I'm not sure the timing of the recent House resolution could be worse.

Apparently, severe atrocities were committed against the Armenians 90 years ago. I do appreciate Representative Tom Lantos' efforts to introduce morality to foreign policy and I understand that, as a holocaust survivor, this is very personal for him. But, again, the timing seems to be severely problematic.

This is not a scientific discussion dedicated to intellectual purity and confined to the ivory tower. If we persist with the resolution I believe the consequences could be very real in bombs, bullets, blood and lost opportunity. If this resolution results in the death of even more of our men and women overseas, I believe it will lose the luster it holds for current supporters.

The resolution doesn't seem wise. Not at this moment in history. Our diplomatic corp, civil servants and executive branch are going to have to work much harder to overcome this little blunder. I'll climb off the soapbox now. Maybe you have some insight as to why this is happening right now? I'd appreciate knowing your perspective.

John

10/12/2007 10:35 PM  

 CraigJ said...

Thank you for your comments.

I have no insight on the issue - I just feel that it is long overdue. It seems to me that truth is being sacrificed on the altar of expediency.

War sucks.

10/16/2007 8:35 PM  

 http://www.turkish-property-world.com said...

...over the past 20 years the regions people and land in Turkey has changed dramatically. After 2003 the turkish economy is the 17th biggest in the world and 6th in europe.

11/30/2007 6:51 AM  

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