WikiLeaks Secrets and Turkey's Take

I went to a Brookings news conference last night and got a surprisingly fresh take on WikiLeaks from offialdom ... Bring it on is what essentially Turkey's foreign minister said ... My original photo was more tilted and less cropped



Here is part of my VOA report before edits...

Turkey's minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu said his country would have no problem if its own diplomatic documents were massively disclosed on the Internet as has just happened to the United States.


"If all the official cables and other documents are being disclosed we will be very happy. Really. Turkey will be very happy because we follow a foreign policy of principles. We do not use dual language. We do not say something in Tehran and something different in Washington and something different in New York or in another place."

In one recently leaked cable, the visiting Turkish official Davutoglu, himself, is portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Turkey. During his speech at the Brookings Institution Monday, the Turkish foreign minister said he would be ready if Turkey faced a similar challenge.

"Open all the archives. Our foreign policy is sincere, principle oriented, honest and candid."

Most of his speech focused on Turkey's efforts to reduce tensions with its many neighbors, but he made repeated references to WikiLeaks, and a new era of more open diplomacy.

When asked about his own country's falling ranking in lists by freedom of the press watchdogs, he said it was important to improve media ethics at the same time as widening freedom of speech.