Durbin Travels to Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia
Trip to Focus on Regional Political Dynamics and Security Issues
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) is on a week-long trip to Eastern Europe, Anatolia and the Caucuses where he will hold high-level meetings on regional political dynamics and security issues.
Durbin first traveled to Kiev, for meetings with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryschenko to discuss the current political situation in Ukraine and the status of US-Ukraine relations. Durbin also meet with US embassy officials and opposition leaders including the daughter of Yulia Tymoshenko, the detained former Prime Minister.
Following his meetings in Kiev, Senator Durbin will travel to Ankara, Turkey where he’ll meet with senior officials including President Abdullah Gul and US embassy personnel. Durbin also plans to visit a Syrian refugee camp on the Turkey/Syria border. Durbin’s meetings in Turkey will focus primarily on regional security issues.
From Turkey, Durbin will travel to Tbilisi, Georgia where he again regional security issues and US-Georgian relations with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Durbin and Saakashvili met recently at the NATO Summit in Chicago. Durbin also plans to meet with opposition leaders and civic organizations.
The final stop on Senator Durbin’s trip will be in Yerevan, Armenia where he will meet with President Serzh Azati Sargsyan and senior US officials.
Durbin will return to Illinois later this week.
In addition to being the second-highest ranking member of the United States Senate, Durbin sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is also a member of the Subcommittee on European Affairs which has jurisdiction over matters concerning the continent of Europe, including the Caucasus. Its responsibilities include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.