Wikileaks WASHINGTON: Turkey's foreign minister entered talks Monday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying they would discuss thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables, many of which originated in Ankara.Ahmet Davutoglu said he would address "a huge variety of agenda items" in his long-scheduled talks with Clinton at the State Department, "including the leaked documents" posted online by whistleblower website Wikileaks and a select group of media outlets.
Key regional US ally Turkey is in the spotlight in the wake of the latest Wikileaks dump of more than a quarter million documents, including thousands of cables from the US embassy in Ankara.
One cable dated November 2009 said Washington was "wondering if it could any longer count on Turkey to help contain Iran's profound challenge to regional peace." Davutoglu, with Clinton at his side, said Turkey maintained a "strategic partnership" with Washington -- comments echoed by the top US diplomat.
"Turkey and the United States have one of the most important bilatral relationships in the world," Clinton told reporters.
"We are very committed to continuing to strengthen and deepen that relationship, and it is always very constructive for me to meet with the foreign minister because we have so much that needs to be done that only Turkey and the United States can do together."
Davutoglu stressed that Ankara maintained a "principled... time-tested transparent foreign policy, including our relationship with the US.
"And we will follow the same principled foreign policy to achieve regional and global peace in coordination with the American administration."
Clinton, who entered the closed-door talks without taking any questions from reporters, described Davutoglu as a "colleague and a friend" with whom she has worked closely over the last 22 months of President Barack Obama's administration.
But the bilateral relationship is sure to be tested in the fallout of the leak of US documents which included sensitive and blunt assessments of Turkish leaders including Davutoglu: German news magazine Der Spiegel, among the publications that posted the documents, highlighted cables in which US diplomats questioned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dependability as a partner, and how he has surrounded himself with "an iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors."
Davutoglu in one cable is portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Turkey.
A high-ranking government adviser, quoted by US diplomats, describes Davutoglu as "exceptionally dangerous" and warns that he would use his Islamist influence on Erdogan.
Key regional US ally Turkey is in the spotlight in the wake of the latest Wikileaks dump of more than a quarter million documents, including thousands of cables from the US embassy in Ankara.
One cable dated November 2009 said Washington was "wondering if it could any longer count on Turkey to help contain Iran's profound challenge to regional peace." Davutoglu, with Clinton at his side, said Turkey maintained a "strategic partnership" with Washington -- comments echoed by the top US diplomat.
"Turkey and the United States have one of the most important bilatral relationships in the world," Clinton told reporters.
"We are very committed to continuing to strengthen and deepen that relationship, and it is always very constructive for me to meet with the foreign minister because we have so much that needs to be done that only Turkey and the United States can do together."
Davutoglu stressed that Ankara maintained a "principled... time-tested transparent foreign policy, including our relationship with the US.
"And we will follow the same principled foreign policy to achieve regional and global peace in coordination with the American administration."
Clinton, who entered the closed-door talks without taking any questions from reporters, described Davutoglu as a "colleague and a friend" with whom she has worked closely over the last 22 months of President Barack Obama's administration.
But the bilateral relationship is sure to be tested in the fallout of the leak of US documents which included sensitive and blunt assessments of Turkish leaders including Davutoglu: German news magazine Der Spiegel, among the publications that posted the documents, highlighted cables in which US diplomats questioned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dependability as a partner, and how he has surrounded himself with "an iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors."
Davutoglu in one cable is portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Turkey.
A high-ranking government adviser, quoted by US diplomats, describes Davutoglu as "exceptionally dangerous" and warns that he would use his Islamist influence on Erdogan.
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