DM Monitoring
ANKARA: We see that the new administration in the United States under Joe Biden is seeking better relations with Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated, indicating that talks continue to take place both under the umbrella of NATO and bilaterally.
Reiterating that two delegations came from the U.S. so far, Çavuşoğlu told journalists during his visit to Athens that either he would visit Washington or U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would come to Ankara in the near future. “We agreed to come together as two ministers,” he added, saying that the date is not set yet. However, he said, differences remain with the U.S. “Aid to the PKK and (the Gülenist Terror Group) FETÖ and this year the additional Armenian ‘genocide’ issue affected relations negatively.”
Speaking on another issue that caused significant tension between the two countries and that led Washington to impose sanctions on its NATO ally – Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, Çavuşoğlu reiterated that Ankara’s proposal to establish a working group under the auspices of NATO was rejected by the former and current administration.
“We know why, because they know their claims (that the system is not compatible with the NATO systems) are not true,” he said. Çavuşoğlu also pointed out that Turkey told Russia the systems will be 100% controlled by Ankara. “Therefore, we sent many technicians to Russia. No Russian soldier will be in Turkey.”
The issue of Afghanistan is another topic of bilateral relations between the two countries. Çavuşoğlu stated that with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, both countries are discussing how to move forward.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal for his part evaluated his recent meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, saying that all bilateral issues were discussed.
“They seem to be ready for engagement with us. They came new to the administration and move forward slowly,” Önal said, reiterating that the U.S. did not even appoint a special representative for Syria yet. He stated that Turkey underlined mostly the U.S.’ cooperation with terrorist organizations. “They cannot come up with an explanation to engage with a terrorist group. They say they fight Daesh and do not intend to create a security risk for Turkey.”
He said that Washington, on the other side, sees that there is cooperation potential in Syria, Libya and Afghanistan. “We discussed that this could be extended to Africa and Asia. Developments in the Horn of Africa affect us and potential there has increased.
