WASHINGTON - Eric Edelman, who has recently been appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, said on Friday that Turkey and the United States needed to ''rebuild strategic partnership'' in the new strategic atmosphere that occurred after the September 11th terrorist attacks and the Iraq war.
Edelman, who attended the farewell reception hosted by American Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington, told A.A correspondent that he hoped to take over the post in August.
Regarding the news in Washington Post daily that ''relations between the two countries were tense and getting worse,'' Edelman said that they passed through a rough road but there had been ups and downs in bilateral relations in the past.
Expressing belief that there were many things that the two countries could do, Edelman said that the two countries had been allies for 50 years.
Edelman stated that they had built their strategic partnership in 1990s and now, both Turkey and the United States were facing different strategic atmospheres in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks and Iraq war.
Now, Edelman said, they had to re-build that strategic partnership taking into consideration the new strategic realities.
Expressing full belief that the two countries could achieve that, Edelman noted that they had to work very much for that.
Edelman added that he was ready to work with Turkish officials.
Turkish and U.S. diplomats in Washington defined appointment of Edelman to the Embassy in Ankara as ''a very good and positive sign.''
Sources says that appointment of Edelman, known as a person close to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, to U.S. Embassy in Ankara is significant to show the importance of bilateral relations for the United States.
(BRC-AÖ) 13.06.2003