The United States understands this well. He is certainly the right man to tackle such serious challenges. He is one of the most knowledgeable economists, and one of the finest civil servants I have known. But no man, no matter how brilliant, can fix the problems of the Turkish economy by himself. But this is not a normal time, and it is not a time for business as usual.
Turkey faces a crisis today.
And as I just heard Dr. Dervis point out, this crisis that Turkey faces can also be a major opportunity. Turkey has an opportunity to emerge from this crisis even stronger than before, but only if it undertakes the necessary reforms. And these need to be not only reforms in economic policy, but reform of the fundamental institutions that are critical for the Turkish economy to enter the 21st Century. It is the great good fortune of the United States, of NATO, of the Western countries, and, indeed, of the whole world that in this critical crossroads we have one of our strongest, most reliable and most self-reliant allies. It is captured in a story that I first heard from a Turkish officer many years ago, but my military assistant, Army Brigadier General John Batiste, tells me that he's heard it also.