Ankara Pledges Cooperation with Washington as Bush Wins Second Term

Türkiye congratulated President George W. Bush on his November 2004 re-election and reaffirmed its commitment to counterterrorism cooperation and shared values with the United States.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer sent Bush a formal message emphasizing the strategic partnership between the two countries and pledging closer coordination in fighting terrorism and promoting regional peace.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan identified terrorism, trans-Atlantic relations, regional stability, and dialogue between civilizations as the central areas for continued joint effort with Washington.

Türkiye is a NATO member and considers the United States its principal strategic ally. The relationship had frayed in 2003 when Ankara refused to allow American troops to use Turkish territory as a staging ground for the Iraq invasion, but bilateral ties largely recovered in the months that followed.

Despite the diplomatic repair, Ankara remained uneasy about ongoing instability in Iraq, worried that prolonged turmoil there could destabilize its own border regions to the south.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in November 2004, in its own words.