A number of issues concerning new tendencies in Turkish foreign policy arise in the context of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to U.S., where he intends to meet Barack Obama, Hurriyet daily reads.

The daily mentions 4 issues, one of which is Armenia-Turkey Protocols. "The Obama administration will have significant interest in ratification and implementation of the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia. The protocols were welcomed in the United Statesas they were consistent with U.S. interests. We will bring the issue to the Armenian agenda. We want to see what is going to happen. He will probably say to Erdogan “Look, you did a good job with the protocols but now you should put them into action,” GMF's Senior Transatlantic Fellow Ian O. Lesser told Hurriyet, commenting on Erdogan’s agenda.

Three other issues are related to further plans in Iran, relations with Israel and deployment of a missile defense system in Turkey. The expert considers that “there is a potential disagreement between Turkey and U.S. over Iran policies. In the next one or two years, the Iranian issue will be one of the most critical tests for Turkey and the U.S. in foreign policy to see whether they have a common ground for understanding. If the issue is sent to the U.N. Security Council, council member Turkey will have to make some tough choices. Then, it will be very difficult for Turkey to be isolated in the Security Council's collective opinion.”

Speaking of deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations, the expert underlined that he did not think it was of “surprise” to U.S. “American leadership will rather want to know how long the decline will last. I think Mr. Obama, in order to have a better understanding of what will happen next, is really curious about what Prime Minister Erdogan will say on the subject,” he added.

As to deployment of a missile defense system, Lesser concludes, “Mainly a sea-based system in the Mediterranean is being considered. But in the future, some elements of the system may be deployed on the shore. This is a possibility. So, the Obama administration may be interested in learning the Turkish opinion on the issue.”