February 05, 2016•Update: February 06, 2016
NEW YORK
The Turkish-American partnership provides the only force that can bring forth sustainable solutions for the broader region, a senior aide to the Turkish prime minister said Friday.
Ali Sarikaya, who is also the chairman of the Turkey-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, wrote in an opinion piece published by The Hill news website that the region was at a "critical juncture" shaped with "a toxic blend of state failure and human insecurity" and "only Washington and Ankara have the means and capabilities, coupled with the requisite political will, to bring forward sustainable solutions".
"The global challenges we face today represent a significant threat to our values, institutions and to human life throughout the world", he said.
These challenges are "fueled by the desperate survival strategies of autocratic regimes, compounded by a mix of regional rivalries, sectarianism and trans-regional intrusions".
The Syrian regime and Daesh are the two main factions that derive most advantage from this instability, Sarikaya said, adding that some regional powers joined "these dark forces to punish the Syrian people, paying lip service to the idea of peace and diplomacy in the process."
Syria’s civil war, which began in March 2011 when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad responded to anti-government protests with a violent crackdown, has left more than 250,000 people dead, according to UN figures, and created conditions that have allowed Daesh to gain a foothold in the region.
The increasingly complicated conflict also pitted world and regional powers supporting opposite sides against each other, with Russia and Iran actively backing the regime while Turkey, U.S., Saudi Arabia and others insisting that Assad must leave office.
According to Sarikaya, a revitalization of Turkey-U.S. relations, together with Turkey's recent rapprochement with the EU, "provides renewed hope for addressing the fight against terrorism".
"The Turkish-U.S. alliance is reliant on our respective capabilities guiding the long-term partnership.
In this sense, we support the unwavering U.S. commitment for comprehensive regional security without discrimination against any regional actor", Sarikaya said.
"Turkey’s case is clear. We back legitimate governments with popular support, committed to peace processes. We will not let opportunism undermine the political map of the region in the form of a ‘greater’ Sunnistan, Shiistan or Kurdistan. We will, in cooperation with our U.S. allies, continue to uphold the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq", he said.
Sarikaya said Turkey's alliance with the U.S. constitute a fundamental basis for advancing stability in the broader region. "Harnessed together, robust U.S. leadership and Turkey’s constructive role towards the many conflicts and crises in our vicinity provides us with the right combination for a way out of the current chaos that confronts the Euro-Atlantic region as a whole", he added.
Noting that Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Turkey is indicative of the “indispensable nature” of the U.S.-Turkish alliance, he added, “By virtue of this visit, Turkey and the U.S. were able to discuss ways of making the fight against Daesh more effective through concrete joint steps, while also enhancing our cooperation with regard combating terrorism in Iraq.”
During his trip to Turkey, the American Vice President met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan behind closed doors and discussed ongoing hostilities with the PKK, bilateral relations and regional issues including Syria and Iraq.
