Cablegate: October 7 Letter to Secretary Rice From Turkish

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

141118Z Oct 05

UNCLAS ANKARA 006246

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL TU
SUBJECT: OCTOBER 7 LETTER TO SECRETARY RICE FROM TURKISH
FOREIGN MINISTER GUL

1. Embassy Ankara received a diplomatic note dated October 7
from the MFA requesting that we forward to the Secretary the
text of a letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Mr. Abdullah Gul. According to the Turkish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Embassy in
Washington D.C. will forward the original.

2. The text of the letter is as follows:

MESSAGE FROM H.E. MR. ABDULLAH GL, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY TO H.E.
MS. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA

Dear Secretary of State,

I would like to thank you for your letter dated 3rd October
2005. I fully share your views on the significance of the EU
opening accession negotiations with Turkey. Undoubtedly,
this development constitutes a historic threshold for
European and transatlantic communities.

I also wish to express our appreciation for the unwavering
support that the US Government in general and yourself in
particular lent to Turkey,s aspirations throughout the
arduous process. Your written reaffirmation regarding the US
position vis a vis NATO membership came at a crucial moment.

Furthermore, I am particularly pleased to see that views of
our two countries concerning the settlement of the Cyprus
issue through the efforts of the UN Secretary General on the
basis of the long established UN parameters remain unchanged.

As our time-tested relations have amply demonstrated, Turkey
with its well known transatlantic and European orientation,
will continue to be a staunch partner for both, and will
resolutely pursue the widely shared goals of promoting peace,
prosperity and democracy, regionally as well as globally.

Our relations are endowed with all the important dimensions
of strategic cooperation. Turkey and the US share a common
vision on a wide variety of issues and, thus, they are
well-poised to positively contribute to each others,
policies. I would like to reiterate that the
Turkish-American strategic cooperation will continue in a
stronger pace in the period ahead.

Sincerely,

/s/

Abdullah Gl, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs

End text.
MCELDOWNEY

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