Tillerson hopes to mend strained US-Turkey ties

WASINGTON - 11 July 2017: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday acknowledged severe strains in US-Turkey relations, although he said he is hopeful of mending ties with the NATO ally and partner in the anti-Islamic State coalition.

Tillerson also said he hoped that the US and Turkey could replicate an agreement reached last week between the US, Russia and Jordan for a ceasefire in southwestern Syria in the north of the country, The Washington Post reported.

Speaking to Turkey-based American diplomats in Istanbul, Tillerson said he believed the two countries are beginning to restore mutual trust that had been lost over the course of the last several years.

He said since becoming secretary of state, he had met three times with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including a lengthy session on Sunday night, and that each time the tone of the conversation had improved.

While challenges remain, Tillerson said he believed the first steps to re-establishing relations “on the proper basis” have been taken.

"I think our relationship here in Turkey which has been under some stress for some time, I hope we are beginning to put it on the mend," he said.

"I think we’re beginning to rebuild some of that trust that we lost in one another, they lost our trust to a certain extent, we lost theirs, so I think we are working very hard to rebuild that level of trust and that is the basis for any relationship."

"This is an extraordinarily important relationship to the United States for many, many reasons that you would well understand from a security standpoint to the future economic opportunities as well and the important geography just by luck of Mother Nature that the citizens of Turkey occupy at this crossroads of the world," Tillerson said.