U.S. State Department: ties between Turkey and U.S. remain strong

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Ties between Turkey and the US have strong and solid foundations that go back decades," the U.S. State Department Spokesman, Mr Sean McCormack told a press conference in Washington late Monday.



"But I think there is certainly a perception of strains when you see people protesting in the streets," he said. "You see a lot of news stories. But I don't want to leave you with the impression that there is really tension at an official level between the United States government and the Turkish government on this issue."



McCormack said the U.S. is trying to find a solution to the problem, and to that of the increasing tension between Turkey and Iraq. "We've talked over the past several weeks about our efforts to work with the Iraqi government and the Turkish government to find a diplomatic solution so that the Iraqi government will act against this terror group, a terror group that is operating on its soil," he said.



The first step that needed to be made was to ensure that there were no more terrorist attacks against the Turkish people by the PKK, McCormack said.



"And there also needs to be a wider, more permanent, durable solution, whereas you get to the dismantlement and the elimination of the PKK," he said.



This weekend's visit to Ankara by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had as one of its main objectives to try and bring the Turkish and Iraqi government's together to find a diplomatic solution to the existing problems, he said, the USINFO reports.