    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [June 8, 2005]
    [Pages 949-950]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    Erdogan of Turkey
    June 8, 2005

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office.
    We've had an extensive visit about a lot of issues, and the reason why
    is because Turkey and the United States has an important strategic
    relationship. I told the Prime Minister how grateful I was that he was
    a--is a strong supporter of the broader Middle Eastern initiative.
    Turkey's democracy is an important example for the people in the broader
    Middle East, and I want to thank you for your leadership.
        Along these lines, I thanked the Prime Minister for Turkey's
    leadership role in Afghanistan. I was most impressed by his report from
    his trip to Afghanistan and his deep concern for the conditions of the
    people there and his desire to work with the United States and NATO
    countries to help improve the lives of the children, for example, in
    Afghanistan.
        We discussed--a lot of foreign policy and shared interests between
    our countries. And one of the most important foreign policy initiatives
    of my administration--and I know the Prime Minister shares the same
    desire--is to work with the Palestinians so they can have their own
    state, their own democracy, living side by side in peace with Israel.
        And finally, we discussed the domestic issues. We discussed our
    economies, and the Prime Minister reminded me that the--in his judgment,
    Turkey is a good place for U.S. investment. I listened very carefully to
    what he had to say, but we spent--all in all, it was a very rich and
    important discussion.
        Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for coming.
        Prime Minister Erdogan. Thank you, Mr. President. In our meeting
    with the President, we discussed and evaluated the political partnership
    that we have with the United States, and we looked into the future with
    regard to our relations. I can summarize the main titles of our
    discussion as freedom, democracy, rule of law, fight against terrorism,
    security, and human rights.
        We also had an opportunity to talk about the broader Middle East
    initiative, with regard to regional developments. We also discussed the
    Cyprus issue. And we were able to discuss with some depth the issues
    with regard to Israel, Palestine, the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan.
        We discussed and I'm confident that we will continue to have the
    same kind of solidarity we've had in Turkish-U.S. relations in the past,
    in the future as well.
        I also mentioned to the President that Turkey is open to any new
    investment as a country now of stability and security. And we were very
    happy to see that the President agreed that he had a positive view on
    investments.
        And we're happy that we were able to confirm that our strategic
    relationship will move and will take place in the future, as it has been
    done in the past.
        Thank you.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. Prime Minister Erdogan spoke in Turkish, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter.

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