Speaking at the Rumi Forum in Washington, D.C., Kiniklioglu stressed that "Turkey had to send 100,000 troops to the Iraqi border in order to get the attention of U.S."

Suat Kiniklioglu, a deputy of the Justice and Development (AK) Party, said Wednesday that "if the Armenian resolution had been adopted in the U.S. Congress and Turkey had entered Iraq to eradicate terrorist PKK organization, there would have been immense damage to strategic relations between Turkey and the United States."

Speaking on Turkish-American relations at the Rumi Forum in Washington, D.C., Kiniklioglu stressed that "Turkey had to send 100,000 troops to the Iraqi border in order to get the attention of U.S."

"Intelligence sharing by the U.S. contributed to bilateral relations after the visit paid by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Washington, D.C. on November 5th, 2007," Kiniklioglu remarked.

"Rational decisions made by the U.S. and results gained after the intelligence sharing contributed to positive feelings of Turks towards the United States. The anti-American sentiments in Turkey were not caused by the culture of the U.S. but by its policies," Kiniklioglu said.

Asked about the end of a ban prohibiting girls from wearing headscarves in Turkish universities, Kiniklioglu emphasized that "the issue of headscarf is a personal one and a right of girls."