Christopher Shays: “Earlier this month, I returned from a congressional delegation trip to Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. As part of that…”

“Earlier this month, I returned from a congressional delegation trip to Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. As part of that trip, my staff member, a retired colonel in the Army, Dr. Nick Palarino, and I spent 4 days in Turkey traveling to the southeastern region, not a place Members of Congress usually go. I would like to share my impressions with my colleagues about our strong ally in the Middle East, Turkey. My staff and I pursued a different itinerary than other codels in Turkey. First, we visited Ankara and met with the U.S. Ambassador and the Country Team, members of Parliament, and Turkish military officials to get a better understanding of the problems faced by Turkey battling the terrorist group, the Kurdistan Worker's Party, known as the PKK. We then traveled to Diyarbakur, a city and region where a large number of Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent reside, and met with the governor of the province and local officials, many of them Kurds. We also traveled to Habur Gate on the border with Iraq and met with the commercial truck drivers who wait in line for days, often more than a week, trying to get their products into Iraq. We even had the opportunity to cross the bridge into Iraq and meet with U.S. forces, members of the 571st Movement Control Team and Logistical Task Force Bravo, who escort commercial trucks into Iraq.”