Turkey, US unveil new strategy for partnership

The United States backs Turkey's diplomatic efforts in Syria to help resolve an escalating crisis in the Middle East over the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants, with Rice saying the efforts are helpful

Turkey and the United States yesterday unveiled a document outlining priorities in the Turkish-U.S. partnership, which deteriorated after Turkish refusal to cooperate militarily in the Iraq war. The common strategic vision paper was announced here by visiting Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Gül told a press conference after talks with Rice that the document would further strengthen relations between the two countries, describing it as a road map for Turkey and the United States in both bilateral and international matters.
We have renewed our relations on the basis of mutual trust, Gül said.

The document was to be formally released in full later in the day.Gül and Rice also discussed the situation in Iraq, Iran's nuclear program, Cyprus and the issue of the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq. Rice reiterated the U.S. position that the PKK was a terrorist organization and insisted that the PKK cannot be allowed to have a base of operations in Iraq. The secretary of state also said that Turkey's closed-door diplomacy in Syria for contributing to the resolution of a crisis in the Middle East that broke out after abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants was very helpful.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent his special envoy, Ahmet Davutoğlu, to Damascus for talks with President Bashar Assad in an attempt to contribute to a solution to the crisis. Gül earlier implied in Washington that the United States and Israel had wanted the Syria visit.


Turkish Daily News