US Ambassador To Turkey Presents Credentials To Erdoğan

The new US ambassador to Turkey, John Bass, has presented his letter of credence to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan received Bass at the Çankaya presidential palace in Ankara on Monday. Bass was sworn in as the new ambassador to Turkey on Oct. 7 with a ceremony at the US State Department. During Bass's swearing-in ceremony, US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that Bass has been a vital part of his team, adding that Bass is going to Turkey for a very important post.

The ambassador is expected to visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Arriving in Turkey on Oct. 18, Bass made his first statement in Turkish to members of the Turkish press, who welcomed him at Ankara Esenboğa Airport. “Turkey and the US are good friends and strategic partners. I am looking forward to staying with you as a guest and learning many things from you,” Bass said. “I visited Turkey many times and loved it. I am very happy that I will live here,” he added.

Bass also stressed the importance of Turkey-US ties, saying, “Our relationship with Turkey is one of the strongest friendships that we have built around the world.” He said Turkey and the US have been very good friends for many years.

The US Senate confirmed Bass as the ambassador to Turkey on Sept. 17. Former US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson returned to Turkey on Sept. 6 to serve as chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Ankara while awaiting the US Senate's confirmation of Bass, President Barack Obama's nominee as ambassador to Turkey.

During his nomination hearing at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in mid-July, Bass admitted that Turkey was drifting towards authoritarianism under the administration of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

A career member of the US Foreign Service, Bass served as the ambassador to Georgia. He was executive secretary of the Department of State from 2012 to 2014. He previously headed the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team and was director of the US State Department Operations Center from 2005 to 2008. He was also special adviser to US Vice President Dick Cheney from 2004 to 2005 on Europe and Eurasia.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)