Turkey’s main opposition leader kicks off Washington visit

ANKARA

Kılıçdaroğlu (R) is set to meet up with officials, members of the Congress and representatives from various think tanks during his time in Washington.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is set to depart for the U.S. capital on Nov. 30 for a four-day visit with a hectic agenda including a series of talks with American officials, members of the Congress and think tanks. A special assistant to the U.S. President Barack Obama is among the figures with whom the CHP leader will meet.

“Our main objective for the U.S. trip is to share our expectations, views, visions and our ideas over internal, external and economic policies with the Americans as the party which will come to power at the next general elections,” CHP Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu said.

Kılıçdaroğlu, accompanied by the party’s deputy chairs - Loğoğlu, Umut Oran, Şafak Pavey, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Faik Öztrak - and a number of lawmakers as well as several Turkish journalists, is scheduled to arrive in Washington in Nov. 30 evening. Having just arrived, the CHP leader will have a dinner with Turkey’s Ambassador to the U.S., Namık Tan.

On Dec. 1, Kılıçdaroğlu will hold talks with Turkish business circles in the U.S. and representatives of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) as well as representatives of the U.S.-based Jewish community. Later in the day, the CHP leader will host an official inaugural reception for his party’s U.S. Representative Office, which has been active since July 2013.

The CHP leader will meet with Karen Donfried, Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for European Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council on Dec. 2. Having addressed the Brookings Institution and Center for American Progress in separate events to express his party’s vision for Turkey, Kılıçdaroğlu will also gather with Republican members of the House of Representatives.

Kılıçdaroğlu will meet on Dec. 3 with Eric Cantor, the House Majority leader, as well as with Ed Whitfield and Virginia Foxx, co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey. He will also have talks with Democrat members of the House of Representatives for dinner.

On the last day of his visit, Dec. 4, Kılıçdaroğlu will meet with Turkish-American Council members. Former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, Eric Edelman and Morton Abramowitz, will host a working luncheon in honor of Kılıçdaroğlu at the Bipartisan Policy Center. The CHP leader is scheduled to depart for Turkey in the evening on Dec. 4, after holding a press conference.