The friendship between the US and Türkiye is currently "incredibly strong," Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Ankara Alyce Abdalla said, pointing to the close relationship between the leaders of the two countries.
Abdalla made the remarks to Anadolu while visiting Türkiye's southern Hatay province to inspect reconstruction work at the Antakya Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed in the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes and whose rebuilding has been supported by the US.
Noting that she began her diplomatic assignment in Türkiye around two weeks ago and that Hatay was the destination of her first visit, Abdalla said she was very excited to be in the country.
Describing Türkiye as "an extraordinary place to work," Abdalla assessed the friendship between the two countries.
"The friendship between the United States and Türkiye right now is incredibly strong, and it is true when we talk about our leaders. (US) President (Donald) Trump and (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan had a historic meeting in Ankara in July during the NATO summit," she said.
"That is just a wonderful setting for me to come and start here as deputy chief of mission, and I am very excited about it," she added.
Abdalla described the relationship between the two leaders as "incredibly positive" and said it could serve as an example for the broader US-Türkiye bilateral ties.
"Right now, we have that strong relationship between our leaders, and we are working hard throughout the mission (in) Türkiye to make sure that that friendship is reflected throughout our work," she said.
Abdalla said she hopes to meet as many people and visit as many places as possible during her assignment in Türkiye.
"Next year, 2027, will mark 100 years of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Republic of Türkiye," she said, adding that she was "really excited to be here at this moment."
"I hope that we can use the next year to further strengthen our relationship and think about the ways in which we can work together going forward," she added.
Abdalla also received information about efforts to rebuild the Antakya Greek Orthodox Church, located on Saray Street in the Antakya district and destroyed in the earthquakes.
The work is being carried out by Türkiye's Culture and Tourism Ministry and Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry, with support from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and the World Monuments Fund.
Visiting the site, Abdalla said seeing the traces of the earthquakes firsthand and witnessing the scale of the destruction while touring Hatay had deeply affected her.
"I was really struck by the level of the damage when I walked on the ground today. It made me understand how really terrible those earthquakes were back in February 2023. I could tell that so much work has been done," she said.
Abdalla said she was also deeply impressed by the resilience shown by the people of the region.
"I was just really struck by the strength and resilience of the people here, to have that kind of destruction happen and then to recover and be focused on the future and rebuilding, it is just inspiring," she said.
Abdalla said the US Embassy was pleased to contribute to recovery efforts by funding emergency stabilization work at St. Paul Church and the Antioch Synagogue, while working with Türkiye's Culture and Tourism Ministry to support the local community in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes.
Abdalla said the US has also provided various forms of support for efforts carried out with Türkiye to protect cultural heritage.
She noted that the two countries also cooperate on the return to Türkiye of historical artifacts that were illegally taken abroad.
"We are also very committed to working with Türkiye on returning stolen objects to Türkiye," she said.
"We have just recently signed a renewal of the US-Türkiye Cultural Property Agreement, and this is a way in which we can work with the Turkish government to make sure that objects that were stolen from Türkiye are returned to the Turkish people," she added.
