THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICY PLANNING DIRECTOR MR. KRASNER VISITED THE MARMARA GROUP FOUNDATION In the picture above,  Dr. Stephen Krasner (left), along with his aide from the Secretary of State, Ms. Sedefhan Oguz, Dr. Akkan Suver, ret. General Ilhan Kilic and Erkut Yuceoglu. The U.S. Department of State Policy Planning Director Dr. Stephen Krasner visited the Marmara Group Foundation and participated in a discussion forum on February 23, 2007. The meeting was started by a short introductory speech by Mr. Krasner. During his speech, the Director said that the relations of the U.S. with other big countries such as Japan, China and India were perfect, but that the major problem was smaller countries, particularly those in the Middle East. Krasner further said that the U.S. was aiming to set up democratic countries in the Middle East, but this was a very challenging task for the moment. After his speech, the members of the Marmara Group Foundation asked questions to Mr. Krasner. Mr. Erkut Yuceoglu asked what the U.S. administration could have done in Iraq. Krasner answered that more troops could have been deployed from the outset of the events. Yuceoglu also commented that the Turkish media were sometimes broadcasting pro-American programs to improve bilateral relations but that he hadn’t observed a parallel attitude from the U.S. media. In reply, Krasner said “this is an interesting observation. I can suggest this in my country. Your observation is correct.” In his turn, the Retired General Ilhan Kilic said that during the trainings and meetings in the U.S., the U.S. commanders had always kept saying that the support of at least 80% of the local population was necessary to win the battle, but that the current strategy in Iraq was not based on this presumption. Krasner answered “the problem was not only Saddam. Our conception of the issue after the September 11 was absolutely correct. We had always thought that the Shi’ites in Iraq would also support us. The emergence of Muqtada al-Sadr was a surprise to us. Counter insurgency is a challenging issue. The best strategy for us is increasing troops. In this way, we can control the violence in Baghdad and increase the domestic support within the U.S. But nothing has a guarantee of success.” General Kilic also asked the relations on the public, military and government levels. Krasner said that the administration-level relations were very good because the interests of both countries were converging on many issues such as energy, Turkey’s membership to the EU and the Central Asia. On his part, Ogan Soysal touched on the bill in the Congress on the so-called Armenian Genocide and asked “this issue satisfies one party [the Armenian community in the U.S.] while it ‘kills’ the other one [the Turkish community in the U.S.] Have you ever considered the problem in this perspective?” Dr. Krasner replied the question by stressing that the current U.S. administration strictly opposed the proposal. He added “however, the Armenian community in the U.S. is very organized and very effective. This is an issue of counter balancing. Organize the Turks in the U.S. and strengthen them. This issue is not a domestic political issue. The U.S. citizens hardly have any knowledge on the Armenian claims. This has only to do with the power of the Armenian groups in our country.” Krasner further added that the decisions taken by the Congress were not laws, that they were only decisions expressing opinions, that similar decisions were frequently taken by the Congress and that many of the Congress members didn’t even know the outcomes of such decisions. In his turn, Mr. Husamettin Kavi said that he couldn’t understand how the U.S. could risk the relations with Turkey. Krasner said that there was a friction between the two countries as a result of the bill on the Armenian claims and the PKK activities in northern Iraq, but that the relations were very strong since the values and interests of both countries were almost identical. Kavi also asked whether the U.S. had any strategy in Iraq and the Middle East. Krasner said that the strategy in Iraq was ensuring a safe and viable environment for the moderate parties in Iraq by improving the security situation with the help of additional troops. Regarding the strategy in the Middle East, Krasner said that the strategy was stability in Iraq, a settlement in Palestine, strengthening the Siniora government in Lebanon and preventing the nuclear activities of Iran. Following his answers, Dr. Krasner also asked a question to the members of the Marmara Group Foundation how Turkey saw its role in the Middle East. General Kilic answered that though Turkey was a Muslim country, it was oriented towards the West as a result of its Western values deriving from the Ataturk’s perspective. Yuceoglu answered the question by saying that anytime Turkey was trying to take an initiative in the region, it was prevented by the Western powers. He claimed that a supportive gesture was needed. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Suver invited Mr. Krasner to the 10th Eurasian Economic Summit. On his part, Dr. Krasner said he would be very willing to participate should his schedule be available