'U.S. cooperation with Turkey will continue regardless of election results'

U.S. cooperation with Turkey will continue regardless of who wins the presidential election, U.S. ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone has said at Istanbul's Haydarpa?a port, which the U.S. embassy is using as its "election base" for the night.

Saying that Turkey is not alone on the issue of Syria, Ricciardone told the Hurriyet Daily News that even if there was a change in administration he would not expect major changes in Washington's Syria policies, and that a military intervention was unlikely.

"Like Turkey, the U.S. is not disposed to intervention, and we are both sorry about the ongoing issues in Syria. Both Obama and Romney said that they wouldn't turn their back on the Syrian people in their election campaigns, so I wouldn't expect major changes in U.S. foreign policy," he said. 

Ricciardone also denied that Turkey was isolated, saying that the international community stood together with it on the issue of Syria.   "The one who has been isolated is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," he said.

Ambassador won't offer presidential system

The United States would not offer the presidential system to any state, U.S. ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone has said at Istanbul's Haydarpa?a port, which the U.S. embassy is using as its "election base" for the night.

Asked how well the presidential system was working, Ricciardone said it was a 200-year-old system that no one in America found ideal, in an interview aired on private T.V. station CNN Türk.

"The system becomes a subject of debate every four-year term, but nobody is sure about how we can get a better system. Therefore, we wouldn't offer it to anyone," he said. "Anyway, it has given us good results up to now, so I think we will continue with the system for a long time yet.


/hurriyetdailynews.com/