European foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration signal to the Muslim world and firmly anchor the country in Europe. The trip marked Obama's first visit to a Muslim majority country. Obama has asserted that a close relationship with a stable, democratic, Western-oriented Republic of Turkey is an important U.S. national interest. His administration declared that the U.S. will support the promotion of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression in Turkey and support its efforts to join the European Union, which the president confirmed on his April visit. While Obama has gone on the record in the past as referring to the massacre of Armenians under the
Elisheva Barak-Ussoskin Elisheva Barak-Ussoskin Elisheva Barak-Ussoskin (; born 13 October 1936) is an Israeli retired judge. She sat on the Regional Labor Courts in Jerusalem and Beersheba from 1990 to 1995, and served as judge on the National Labor Court from 1995 to 2006. She also served as Vice President of the National Labor Court. Her rulings on labor law and labor relations were said to further the rights of workers more than any other Israeli judge. She is the wife of Aharon Barak, former President of the Supreme Court of Israel. Elika Josephina Ussoskin was born in Bucharest, Romania, to Moissei