Türkiye-US ties go beyond military cooperation, NATO remains key: Turkish president’s chief adviser

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Chief Foreign Policy and Security Adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic said Monday that Türkiye-US ties extend beyond military cooperation, with NATO remaining a key pillar.

"The relationship that we have with the US is profoundly different to a lot of the relationships that we have around the world," Kilic told a panel titled "Türkiye-US Relations on the Eve of the Centennial."

The panel was organized by Türkiye's Communications Directorate in New York amid the UN General Assembly week.

It was also attended by Cagri Erhan, deputy chair of the Presidential Council for Security and Foreign Policy, former US Ambassador to Türkiye and retired diplomat James Jeffrey, and former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza.

Stressing that the bilateral ties are not solely based on military relationships alone, Kilic added: "But I think NATO is an important part of our relationship."

The region and geography in which Türkiye found itself in the 1950s and 1960s had changed significantly over time, resulting in a very different regional landscape today, he highlighted.

Türkiye's presence stands as a constant factor in the geography, he underlined, adding that Ankara is "a main and pivotal point in stability."

Meanwhile, Erhan stressed the historical aspect of the bilateral ties, saying they date back to the 1830s, when the Ottoman Empire was in place.

He recalled that although the US entered World War I, it never declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

"They declared war to Germans, not Ottomans."

- 'We exist in the same world'

For his part, Jeffrey highlighted the many shared interests and values between Ankara and Washington, saying that "we exist in the same world."

"I could talk about the various organizations from the IMF and the World Bank and OECD and NATO, etc.

"But it's more than the institutions. And it's best understood by how China, Russia and Iran don't live in that world," he added.