PRESS RELEASES
Under Secretary William Burns Visits Turkey
Ankara, September 5, 2008
U.S.
Department of State Under Secretary for Political Affairs William Burns
was in Istanbul and Ankara for a one-day visit today. He met with
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul and with President Abdullah
Gül and with his Ministry of Foreign Affairs counterpart, Under
Secretary Ertuğrul Apakan, in Ankara. Under Secretary Burns underscored
wide-ranging U.S.-Turkish shared interests and reaffirmed the U.S.
Government’s continuing commitment to a strong partnership with our
ally, Turkey. Under Secretary Burns’ visit is part of an on-going
dialogue on issues of long-term strategic interest as outlined in the
Strategic Vision and Structured Dialogue agreement signed by Secretary
Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Gül two years ago. The paper
defined key areas of cooperation between our two countries in regional
and other issues.
This was Under Secretary Burns’ first visit to Turkey, but it represents the fourth round of regular consultations at the Under Secretary level under the Structured Dialogue. For more information about the Shared Vision and Structured Dialogue, please go to: http://turkey.usembassy.gov/statement_070508.html