TURKEY REMAINS IMPORTANT PARTNER FOR US

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.01.2010 13:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The US administration has expressed its willingness
to deepen the existing strategic partnership with Turkey, Today’s
Zaman reported.

Mike Hammer, National Security Council (NSC) spokesman, was asked
to comment on Turkey-US relations while delivering a briefing on
"The Obama Administration at One Year," at the US State Department’s
Foreign Press Center in Washington, DC, on Friday.

"I think what you saw in terms of the bilateral relationship with
Turkey is the president’s recognition of this important strategic
partnership; not only is Turkey a NATO ally but also an important
country with great linkages into the Muslim world. And that was a
primary reason why as part of our first trip to Europe we stopped
in Turkey and we have been working with the Turkish government to
advance that relationship and to work on a number of issues of common
interest. Here again, it is in our interest to further deepen that
strategic partnership and we hope that, you know, in the coming year
we will continue to see even more progress. On occasion, again we will
talk about some issues where there are some differences of opinion
but I think overall that the relationship is absolutely excellent,"
Hammer said. "The president enjoyed meeting both President [Abdullah]
Gul and Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and I fully anticipate
that they will continue to have contact."