New US ambassador to Türkiye Jeff Flake has hailed the bilateral ties between Ankara and Washington, saying the two countries "benefit from a close relationship".
Türkiye is a "consequential" country and has "a big role on the global stage," Jeff Flake on Tuesday told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
"Türkiye is an important ally for us," he stressed, further saying that the security between Ankara and Washington has "strengthened."
With an emphasis on Türkiye's position in NATO, he said it is "an important member of NATO, has been for 70 years. And so we have a lot of shared interests there."
Türkiye has "the second largest F-16 fleet" and is "the third largest contributor in terms of NATO missions," said Flake, who conveyed US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith's thanks to Türkiye for its role in the alliance.
On the Russia-Ukraine tensions, the US ambassador said, "Türkiye has been steadfast in its support of Ukrainian sovereignty" and Ankara "shares our commitment to a diplomatic solution if we can have one. They have supported that in a big way."
Flake further said that "with threats like we have right now in the region in Ukraine, our relationship with Türkiye is even more important."
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'Very complicated process'
Flake officially took over as the US ambassador in late January, succeeding David Satterfield, who had served as Washington’s envoy to Türkiye since June 2019.
On the Rome meeting last fall of Turkish and US presidents, Flake said: "They established the strategic mechanism meant to encourage high-level dialogue on areas that we work together on or perhaps we don't exactly agree on, but high-level dialogue."
He also said "more high-level visits" are expected as the US is looking "to make to take full advantage of this strategic mechanism."
Flake also said negotiations are on track regarding the sale and modernisation of F-16 fighter jets.
"In fact, there was a delegation here just this past week as the delegation here in December as well to help prepare what's called "LoR" or a request for additional F-16s and modernisation of F-16," he said.
The US diplomat said compensation for Türkiye's payment for F-35s is "a very complicated process." Lawyers and accountants are working on the issue, he added. The US sees Türkiye's request for new F-16s "very positive," Flake said, as it shows Türkiye's "commitment to NATO."
"We obviously know that it's extremely important to have interoperability. So that’s a positive request."
READ MORE:Will the F-16 crisis be a setback for Turkey–US relations?
