My fellow Turkish citizens in the United States,

Distinguished members of the Turkish-American community,

Dear American friends,

I have assumed my duties as the Turkish Ambassador to the United States as of March 15, 2021. I am humbled to have been entrusted by His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, with the mission of further advancing Türkiye-U.S. relations.

The Turkish-American friendship and partnership today carries great significance in the face of various threats, in an ever-changing world. The cooperation between our two countries is as important as ever in tackling challenges we are confronted with in a wide geography, spanning from the Middle East to the Balkans, from North Africa to Eurasia.

Türkiyeand the U.S. have proved time and again that when they cooperate on transnational issues, including counter-terrorism, ensuring international energy security, tackling climate change, and mitigating the political-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they can together accomplish great feats.

With this understanding, Türkiyestands ready to start a new chapter in this partnership and to fortify even further its relations with the U.S., based on a wide-ranging positive agenda. The Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. will do its utmost towards this end.

Moreover, it is within reach to strengthen the economic and commercial relations between our two countries. As a matter of fact, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our bilateral trade volume increased as of the end of 2020, reaching a total of 21 billion dollars, making the United States the third among countries that Türkiyeexports to. Furthering our bilateral economic and commercial relations, increasing reciprocal investments, and diversifying and supporting trade activities will be amongst our primary targets.

In addition, reinforcing every aspect of our deep-rooted cultural relations, which are open to significant opportunities for cooperation, will constitute one of our targets.

In the meantime, we will also continue supporting as well as encouraging the activities and work of the Turkish-American community. We will pay utmost attention to ensuring that the Turkish-American community's ties to our country and culture are maintained. I am confident that the community will continue to be one of the main pillars of Turkish-American relations.

Dear Turkish citizens, distinguished members of the Turkish-American community,

The Embassy welcomes all thoughts and views which you believe may contribute to the aim of developing Turkish-American relations. Your suggestions are very valuable to the Turkish Embassy as well as the Turkish Consulates-General in the U.S.

I would like to take this opportunity to convey my warmest regards and best wishes to you all.

Hasan Murat Mercan

Ambassador