The Chairman of Turkey-US Friendship Group and AK Party Deputy Chairman of External Affairs Suat KINIKLIOGLU addressed a meeting titled “Turkey’s Neighborhood Policy: Implications for Turkey-US Relations” at the Woodrow Wilson Center on September 27, 2010.

Speaking at the meeting, KINIKLIOGLU said that Turkey developed new approaches with her neighbors based on dialogue and more trade in the past 7-8 years.

If the US does not consider the fact that Turkey purchases 12 percent of all her natural gas needs from Iran and that Turkey's foreign policy is based on creating interdependence between neighbors to prevent problems and instability in the region, then it would be very difficult for the US to understand our policies, KINIKLIOGLU stressed.

In regard to rumors in Washington, D.C. that Turkey has shifted her foreign policy axis, KINIKLIOGLU said that Turkey was not a child that could get lost in a street. Turkey was a great country that knew what it was doing with its experienced foreign policy team.

As Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN expressed, if we want to sleep in peace in Anatolia, there must be stability in the Balkans, Caucasus, Black Sea and Middle East, Kiniklioglu stressed.

In regard to a question on Turkish-Iranian relations, KINIKLIOGLU said that Turkey's policy on Iran was not based on religious solidarity but on concrete interests such as trade and energy.

“Turkey does not want an Iran with nuclear weapons. However, Turkey and the US have different views on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear program. It is crucial to go back to the diplomatic track and engage with Tehran” KINIKLIOGLU said.