MEDIA NOTE
October 20, 2010

Turkey and United States Sign Science and Technology Agreement

The Governments of the Republic of Turkey and the United States held a Science and Technology Agreement signing ceremony today at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. Deputy Under Secretary for Bilateral Affairs and Public Diplomacy Selim Yenel signed on behalf of Turkey while Assistant Secretary Kerri-Ann Jones of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs signed on behalf of the United States.

Today’s Turkey-U.S. Science and Technology Agreement replaces an earlier Agreement signed in 1994. This new Agreement marks an important milestone in the rich history of Turkish-U.S. scientific cooperation. As President Obama stated during his visit to Turkey in April 2009, “…Turkey and the United States must stand together -- and work together -- to overcome the challenges of our time.” The Agreement will achieve this goal by providing the legal framework for increased agency-to-agency collaboration across a broad range of scientific disciplines.

Scientific collaboration is only one facet of the U.S.-Turkish bilateral relationship. Signing this Agreement will boost our work in deepening and diversifying relations between Turkey and the United States. Specifically, the Agreement will facilitate the conduct of joint cooperative research projects; exchanges for scientists, specialists and researchers; the establishment of science-based public-private partnerships; as well as the sharing of facilities, equipment and materials for scientific collaboration between Turkey and the United States. Areas of potential bilateral scientific cooperation include research on earthquake early warning and preparedness, the environment, climate change, renewable energy, health, archeology, material science and chemistry.