U.S. panel lukewarm on prospect of U.S.-Turkey relations

Washington-based think tank, Middle East Forum, held a panel discussion on bilateral relations between the U.S. and Turkey.

Three representatives from U.S.-based ethnic advocacy organisations of Kurdish, Hellenic and Armenian communities of Turkey – Endy Zemenides of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, Diliman Abdulkader of American Friends of Kurdistan and Aram Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee of America – all discussed the causes and implications of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rule on the bilateral relations.

Once an ally of the United States, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Turkey has increasingly positioned itself as an adversary of the West in nearly every way that it is possible to do so, according to all speakers.

Turkey’s current position was allowed due to decades of 'appeasement,' Zemenides said, adding that the United States has been coming up with new justifications for not mentioning violence against Turkey’s religious and ethnic minorities.

Abdulkader said the West has been ignoring Turkish aggression, such as in Syria in 1925, northern Cyprus in 1974 and Syria today, since its founding in 1923.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has taken a "delusional approach” toward Turkey since it still regards Turkey as its trustworthy ally in the past, according to Hamparian. However, Washington needs a "truthful policy" to see what Turkey has become, he said.