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Many of us live in USA and we have seen how politics in this country "functions". We can discuss political events and candidates and such matters here(although it does not really matter who wins). Here is a article on Hillary Clinton who many say is going to run for president.
ERDOgAN HOLDS KEY TO TURKEY'S FUTURE, HILLARY CLINTON WRITES IN MEMOIR
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 10 2014
ISTANBUL
Hillary Clinton's new memoir, "Hard Choices," which many observers
interpret as an unofficial kickoff of her prospective 2016 presidential
campaign, dishes out a lot about key world leaders, but Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a special place in the 656-page
book published June 10.
>From Cyprus to Armenia, Turkey is portrayed in the book as a
difficult actor in negotiations in which Clinton often set the tone
as Washington's top diplomat who visited 112 countries in her tenure.
"None of our relationships in Europe needed more tending than Turkey,
a country of more than 70 million people, overwhelmingly Muslim,
with one foot in Europe and one in Southwest Asia," Clinton wrote.
"The Turkish military, which saw itself as the guarantor of [Mustafa
Kemal] Ataturk's vision, intervened a number of times over the years
to topple governments it saw as too Islamist, too left-wing, or too
weak. Maybe that was good for the Cold War, but it delayed democratic
progress," she said.
Clinton complained in her book that popular approval of her country
had collapsed to just 9 percent in Turkey by 2007. "Unfortunately the
Bush years took a toll on our relations," Clinton wrote, reminding that
she visited Turkey as part of her first trip to Europe as secretary
of state to connect with Turkish society, especially women.
Clinton described Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the
man who "held the key to the future of Turkey and of our relationship."
"I first met him when he was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s. He was an
ambitious, forceful, devout, and effective politician," Clinton wrote,
stressing that Erdogan "managed to gain a tighter grip on power than
any of its civilian predecessors."
"Some of the changes under Erdogan's leadership were positive,"
she said, hailing Ankara's reforms for EU membership and her Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu's "Zero Problems with Neighbors" foreign
policy.
Problem with 'Zero Problems'
"Zero Problems sounded good, and in many cases it was constructive.
But it also made Turkey overeager to accept a diplomatic agreement
with its neighbor, Iran, that would have done little to address the
international community's concerns about Tehran's nuclear program,"
said Clinton.
"Despite positive developments under Erdogan, there was growing cause
for concern, even alarm, about his government's treatment of political
opponents and journalists," she added.
"Decreasing room for public dissent raised questions about the
direction Erdogan was taking the country and his commitment to
democracy," Clinton said, pointing to jailed journalists and a
crackdown on dissent.
"Corruption remained a massive problem, and the government was not able
to keep up with the rapidly rising expectations of its increasingly
worldly and middle-class citizens," she wrote.
The former diplomat also gave an example from her personal contact with
Turkey's prime minister. "Erdogan himself was very proud of his own
accomplished daughters, who wore veils, and he asked my advice about
one of them pursuing graduate studies in the United States," she said.
"In my four years as secretary, Turkey proved to be an important
and at times frustrating partner," Clinton wrote, recalling the
internationally mediated Zurich agreement in October 2009 between
Turkey and Armenia as a "challenge."
Armenian FM Nalbandian 'balked'
"The next afternoon I left my hotel and headed to the University of
Zurich for the ceremony. But there was a problem. [Edward] Nalbandian,
the Armenian minister, was balking. He was worried about what Davutoglu
planned to say at the signing and suddenly was refusing to leave
the hotel. It seemed as if months of careful negotiations might fall
apart," Clinton wrote. According to her book, she "worked the phones"
and convinced both of her colleagues to "sign the document, make no
statements, and leave."
Although neither country has ratified the protocols yet, Clinton
wrote that she "still hopes for a breakthrough."
A few months after the Zurich agreement, Turkey was once again on
Clinton's crisis agenda. Israeli commandos attacked the Mavi Marmara
ship from Turkey carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza and killed 10 Turkish citizens.
Clinton wrote she received an urgent call from her Israeli
counterpart, Ehud Barak, and warned him that "there will be unforeseen
repercussions." The next day, Davutoglu came to see Clinton and they
talked for more than two hours, according to the book.
'Turkey might declare war on Israel'
"He was highly emotional and threatened that Turkey might declare war
on Israel. 'Psychologically, this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey,'
he said, demanding an Israeli apology and compensation for the victims.
'How can you not care?' he asked me. 'One of them was an American
citizen!' I did care - quite a lot - but my first priority was to
calm him down and put aside all this talk of war and consequences,"
she said.
Clinton presented Israel's apology in 2013 as the final product of her
"efforts to convince Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu]"
for the remainder of her tenure.
"The Turks and Israelis are still working to rebuild the trust lost
in this incident," she wrote.
June/10/2014
ERDOgAN HOLDS KEY TO TURKEY'S FUTURE, HILLARY CLINTON WRITES IN MEMOIR
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 10 2014
ISTANBUL
Hillary Clinton's new memoir, "Hard Choices," which many observers
interpret as an unofficial kickoff of her prospective 2016 presidential
campaign, dishes out a lot about key world leaders, but Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a special place in the 656-page
book published June 10.
>From Cyprus to Armenia, Turkey is portrayed in the book as a
difficult actor in negotiations in which Clinton often set the tone
as Washington's top diplomat who visited 112 countries in her tenure.
"None of our relationships in Europe needed more tending than Turkey,
a country of more than 70 million people, overwhelmingly Muslim,
with one foot in Europe and one in Southwest Asia," Clinton wrote.
"The Turkish military, which saw itself as the guarantor of [Mustafa
Kemal] Ataturk's vision, intervened a number of times over the years
to topple governments it saw as too Islamist, too left-wing, or too
weak. Maybe that was good for the Cold War, but it delayed democratic
progress," she said.
Clinton complained in her book that popular approval of her country
had collapsed to just 9 percent in Turkey by 2007. "Unfortunately the
Bush years took a toll on our relations," Clinton wrote, reminding that
she visited Turkey as part of her first trip to Europe as secretary
of state to connect with Turkish society, especially women.
Clinton described Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the
man who "held the key to the future of Turkey and of our relationship."
"I first met him when he was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s. He was an
ambitious, forceful, devout, and effective politician," Clinton wrote,
stressing that Erdogan "managed to gain a tighter grip on power than
any of its civilian predecessors."
"Some of the changes under Erdogan's leadership were positive,"
she said, hailing Ankara's reforms for EU membership and her Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu's "Zero Problems with Neighbors" foreign
policy.
Problem with 'Zero Problems'
"Zero Problems sounded good, and in many cases it was constructive.
But it also made Turkey overeager to accept a diplomatic agreement
with its neighbor, Iran, that would have done little to address the
international community's concerns about Tehran's nuclear program,"
said Clinton.
"Despite positive developments under Erdogan, there was growing cause
for concern, even alarm, about his government's treatment of political
opponents and journalists," she added.
"Decreasing room for public dissent raised questions about the
direction Erdogan was taking the country and his commitment to
democracy," Clinton said, pointing to jailed journalists and a
crackdown on dissent.
"Corruption remained a massive problem, and the government was not able
to keep up with the rapidly rising expectations of its increasingly
worldly and middle-class citizens," she wrote.
The former diplomat also gave an example from her personal contact with
Turkey's prime minister. "Erdogan himself was very proud of his own
accomplished daughters, who wore veils, and he asked my advice about
one of them pursuing graduate studies in the United States," she said.
"In my four years as secretary, Turkey proved to be an important
and at times frustrating partner," Clinton wrote, recalling the
internationally mediated Zurich agreement in October 2009 between
Turkey and Armenia as a "challenge."
Armenian FM Nalbandian 'balked'
"The next afternoon I left my hotel and headed to the University of
Zurich for the ceremony. But there was a problem. [Edward] Nalbandian,
the Armenian minister, was balking. He was worried about what Davutoglu
planned to say at the signing and suddenly was refusing to leave
the hotel. It seemed as if months of careful negotiations might fall
apart," Clinton wrote. According to her book, she "worked the phones"
and convinced both of her colleagues to "sign the document, make no
statements, and leave."
Although neither country has ratified the protocols yet, Clinton
wrote that she "still hopes for a breakthrough."
A few months after the Zurich agreement, Turkey was once again on
Clinton's crisis agenda. Israeli commandos attacked the Mavi Marmara
ship from Turkey carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza and killed 10 Turkish citizens.
Clinton wrote she received an urgent call from her Israeli
counterpart, Ehud Barak, and warned him that "there will be unforeseen
repercussions." The next day, Davutoglu came to see Clinton and they
talked for more than two hours, according to the book.
'Turkey might declare war on Israel'
"He was highly emotional and threatened that Turkey might declare war
on Israel. 'Psychologically, this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey,'
he said, demanding an Israeli apology and compensation for the victims.
'How can you not care?' he asked me. 'One of them was an American
citizen!' I did care - quite a lot - but my first priority was to
calm him down and put aside all this talk of war and consequences,"
she said.
Clinton presented Israel's apology in 2013 as the final product of her
"efforts to convince Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu]"
for the remainder of her tenure.
"The Turks and Israelis are still working to rebuild the trust lost
in this incident," she wrote.
June/10/2014
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