Number 247 | November 30, 2013
Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and a delegation of CHP representatives arrived in Washington, DC on November 30 for a five-day visit to meet with officials from the White House and State Department, Members of Congress, and with the Turkish-American community.
On December 2, TCA hosted the CHP delegation at its DC office for a luncheon briefing on the congressional outreach of TCA and other TCA programs that contribute to building people-to-people bridges between the United States and Turkey. The discussion highlighted the role of Congress in US-Turkey relations and the need for enhanced dialogue between Congress and different levels of Turkish society, including political parties, business and civil society organizations. That evening, TCA hosted a reception on Capitol Hill in cooperation with the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations and Turkish-Americans. The reception was attended by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Mark Meadows (R-NC), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Steve Stockman (R-TX), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Luke Messer (R-IN), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Thomas Petri (R-WI). During the CHP delegation’s stay, TCA also facilitated individual congressional meetings with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), and Turkey Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC).
The five-day visit was the first time in 37 years that a CHP Chairman travelled to the U.S. on an official visit. It also marked the inauguration of CHP’s U.S. Representative Office in Washington DC.
