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Türkiye's foreign minister said Monday that the United States should exert greater influence over Israel to halt policies he said are undermining peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond, as officials from both countries reflected on a century of diplomatic relations.
Speaking at a panel titled "Türkiye-U.S. Relations Entering Their 100th Year," organized by Türkiye's Presidential Communications Directorate in New York, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said interconnected threats in the region risk derailing the joint efforts of Ankara and Washington.
"We expect the U.S. to further use its influence over Israel to end its policies that are damaging regional and global peace and stability," he said.
Fidan described the bilateral relationship as one that has "proven its lasting value" despite disputes, crises and dramatic shifts in the international system over the decades, noting that Türkiye and the United States have become "partners and allies whose influence extends far beyond our borders."
Fidan said the current momentum in relations is anchored substantially in the personal rapport between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Donald Trump, calling their relationship "exceptional" and central to the current push forward. He said the two governments now need to set clear goals for what they can accomplish together as they enter the second century of formal ties.
On the economic front, Fidan said trade and investment between the two countries have expanded steadily, with bilateral trade volume reaching roughly $40 billion.
He said the United States was Türkiye's third-largest export market and fourth-largest source of imports in 2025. Citing a target set by Erdogan of $100 billion in trade, Fidan said reaching that figure would require removing barriers, "particularly additional tariffs."
He also pointed to defense cooperation as a longstanding pillar of the relationship, saying restrictions limiting that cooperation should be lifted.
"These restrictions should have no place between two allies," he said, adding that removing them would allow companies from both countries to deepen partnerships in other regions. He said energy has emerged as another area of concrete gains, describing the United States as having become one of Türkiye's leading energy suppliers through long-term agreements.
Turning to regional security, Fidan said Ankara and Washington share an interest in seeing sovereign, stable states across the Middle East capable of providing security and prosperity, starting with Syria and Iraq.
He said the goal is to strengthen national institutions in those countries so they can govern effectively and deny territory to armed groups. "A Syria free of terrorism and with its territorial integrity preserved will be significant progress for regional security and prosperity," he said.
Fidan argued that local solutions are more likely to succeed than externally imposed ones, saying regional states must take on greater responsibility for security and stability in their own neighborhoods. He cited the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which Türkiye established together with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as an institutional framework supporting that approach, and welcomed what he described as Trump's support for the initiative.
Fidan said Gaza remains "a central test" of the two countries' shared capacity to build security, cooperation and prosperity in the region and beyond.
He said the continuing situation facing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank had deeply wounded global conscience and damaged confidence in the international system, and that a lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue remains essential to stability in the Middle East and beyond.
He said Türkiye supports Trump's efforts to end the crisis in Gaza and called for full implementation of commitments laid out in the ceasefire plan.
Fidan said Türkiye and the United States can also act together in neighboring regions. He said Ankara supports the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus and is working to reduce the risk of rising tensions in the Black Sea, aiming to secure freedom of navigation and turn the Black Sea into "a source of cooperation, not a source of problems."
He added that Türkiye continues to support dialogue and diplomacy toward a lasting peace in Ukraine and maintains communication channels with both Kyiv and Moscow.
On the Balkans, Fidan said tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and between Serbia and Kosovo need to be addressed before they deepen, calling for close coordination and preventive diplomacy to protect what he described as fragile stability in the region.
He closed by saying that as the two countries approach the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations, their history "proves what we can achieve together," and that the goal for the next century is to put the Turkish-American partnership to use for the broader benefit of global peace and stability.
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