The quality of Turkish democracy matters to us, says US official

The United States gives importance to the ?quality of Turkish democracy? not just in political and economic terms, but also as a security issue, said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, following high level contacts in Turkey on April 16, ahead of a NATO meeting in May and Turkish elections in June. ?It matters to us as allies, but also as a security issue,? she said in an exclusive interview with the Hürriyet Daily News. ?In the sense that our NATO alliance is based and built on democratic values, we are all societies where the government serves the people, not the other way around. So that dialogue between citizens and their government, whether it is in the United States, whether it is in Turkey, needs to be vibrant, needs to be strong, needs to be free,? she said.

The focus of Nuland?s contacts in Turkey was actually on regional security matters as well as Turkey-U.S. relations. Before her stop in Istanbul where she met with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlio?lu and other ranking officials, Nuland was in Warsaw. Poland hosts the missile sites and Turkey hosts the early warning radar sites of the NATO-run U.S. missile shield program which made Russia uncomfortable. ?With Warsaw we talked a lot about the challenges to the East [the crisis in Ukraine], and in Turkey we talk a lot about the challenges to the South [Iraq, Syria and now Yemen].

Both are important NATO allies,? Nuland said. ?And it?s important for all allies to be contributing to restoring stability in both directions. So, you know, whether if you?re in Istanbul you?re going talk about both, or if you?re in Warsaw you?re going talk about both.?

Pointing out that one of the main topics of the NATO foreign ministers? meeting...