Erdoğan congratulates Biden on election win, thanks Trump

(Updates with Erdoğan's message to Trump)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sent a message congratulating Joe Biden for his win in the Nov. 3 Presidential Elections in the United States on Tuesday, after days of silence from the government and the presidency.

The message Erdoğan sent, published on the presidency’s official website, is as follows:

“Mr. President-elect,

I wish the election results may yield auspicious outcomes for the people of the friendly and allied US.

As we have addressed on many occasions during your Vice Presidency as well, Turkey-US relations have a strategic quality with a deep-rooted basis.

The challenges we are currently faced with at a regional and global level necessitate us to further enhance and strengthen our bilateral relations, which are based on shared interests and values.

Reiterating to that end our determination to work closely with the US administration in the period ahead, I believe that the strong cooperation and the ties of alliance between our two countries will continue to provide vital contributions to the world peace in the future, as has been the case thus far.

I congratulate you on your election success, and wholeheartedly wish the US people peace and welfare.”

Several hours after the letter to Biden was made public, Erdoğan's office published another letter for Donald Trump, where he thanked the U.S. president for his “warm friendship” and “sincere and determined vision.” The full letter, addressed to “Mr. President,” is as follows:

“Mr. President,

I wish the election held in your country may yield auspicious outcomes for the people of the friendly and allied U.S.

However the official election results may be, I thank you for the sincere and determined vision you set out during your 4-year term in order for the relations between Turkey and the U.S. to improve on the basis of shared interests and values.

As the further enhancing of the historical friendship as well as the partnership and alliance relations between our countries on this strong basis is the necessity of our mutual interests, I would like you to be sure that as Turkey we will make every effort to this end in the period ahead.

On this occasion, I would like to once again thank you from the bottom of my heart for your warm friendship that you have always displayed, and wholeheartedly wish the U.S. people peace and welfare.”

Between the two letters, Erdoğan's office published another statement that the Turkish President spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on “the importance of the cooperation between Turkey and Russia,” adding that “the same spirit of cooperation should be displayed for the Syrian crisis as well.”

Turkey's main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had been the first to congratulate Biden on Nov. 7, with a message for stronger Turkish-American strategic alliance.

Speaking to a conference for ambassadors to Turkey before Erdoğan’s message was made public, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Ankara was “waiting for steps to be taken to remove elements that poison our bilateral relations in this (coming) term.”

#Canlı ?

12. Büyükelçiler Konferansı#BKON2020#GelenektenGeleceğe

?Ankarahttps://t.co/yR2I16tMWe

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) November 10, 2020

“We are one of five countries that contribute most to NATO operations,” Çavuşoğlu said. “We value the United States’ role in advancing a NATO reform to strengthen transatlantic ties and give a sense of trust to allies.”

Turkey’s purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems “is bought and done,” the minister said, because Turkey was “unable to buy from the United States or NATO allies.”

Çavuşoğlu said the United States “providing weapons for a terrorist organisation that is hostile to us,” referring to the majority-Kurdish groups that the U.S.-led international coalition supports in northern Syria, “has caused a serious crisis of safety,” but despite such disagreements, the two countries “can turn over a new leaf for political and economic cooperation.”

Following Erdoğan’s message, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also sent a congratulatory letter to Biden, where he expressed the “pride and joy” of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and all its chapters around the world for his election, and drawing attention to diverse Middle Eastern religious communities.