AK Party External Affairs Deputy Chairman, Cankiri MP Suat KINIKLIOGLU was elected as the Chairman of Turkish-American Friendship Group upon the appointment of former Chairman  AK Party Antalya MP Mevlut CAVUSOGLU as Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

After his being elected as Chairman of Friendship Group, KINIKLIOGLU made the following statement:

“I would like to express my gratitude upon my assignment through unanimous vote as Chairman of the Turkish-American Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group in the election held on February 16, 2010.

As Chairman of the Friendship Group, I hope to be involved in tasks that will contribute to the development of relations between Turkey and USA. I would like to emphasize that the Armenian Draft Resolution planned to be taken into the agenda of American House of Representatives nowadays has a potential to create serious damage in our strongly founded bilateral relations.  Moving from that point, approval of the document drafted by the US Congress members on the basis of a one-sided historical interpretation of the events of 1915 by the Foreign Relations Committee will even have negative reflections to our relations. Therefore, the relevant Congress members are expected to adopt a more strategic attitude compatible with the significance and magnitude of our bilateral relations”.