President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday sent a message of thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump who is expected to hand over the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in January.
"No matter how the official election result is certified, I am grateful for your sincere and determined vision for the development of the Turkey-U.S. relations on the basis of our mutual interests and shared values over the course of your four-year presidential term," he wrote in the message.
"Keeping in mind that our respective interests require the further improvement of the historical friendship, partnership and alliance between our nations on that sound basis, I wish to assure you that, moving forward, Turkey will make every effort towards that goal. On this occasion, I would like to sincerely thank you once again for your ever warm friendship and offer my most sincere wish for the peace and well-being of the people of the United States of America," Erdoğan added.
Bilateral ties between two NATO allies in recent years have become strained over a host of issues, including Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems and differences in policy on Syria. But the personal rapport between Erdoğan and Trump has kept relations from deteriorating further.
Earlier, Erdoğan also sent a congratulatory message to the U.S. President-elect Biden, noting that the Turkey-U.S. relations are of strategic nature and based on deep-rooted foundations.
Biden has surpassed the necessary 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House, according to projections. He has claimed victory, but Trump has announced that he will contest the results.
