The US’ attitude toward Turkey is not in line with the spirit of alliance, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
“The US’ cooperation with the PKK/PYD/YPG (terror group), FETO’s presence in the US, and its stance on the S-400 sanctions are not in line with the spirit of alliance,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told fellow lawmakers.
He said Turkey’s views were “clearly emphasized” by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome last week.
Cavusoglu said Ankara and Washington will form a working group to resolve all outstanding issues between the NATO allies.
“We previously made an offer (for a working group) to the US, but this time the offer has come from the US, from Biden,” he said.
A particular bone of contention between Turkey and the US has been the issue of F-35 fighter jets.
Turkey paid $1.4 billion for the jets but the Washington took Ankara out of the program in 2019 because it bought the Russian S-400 defense system after its efforts to acquire the US’ Patriot missiles were rebuffed.
The US claimed the Russian system was a safety risk, but Turkey maintained that the S-400 would pose no threat to NATO or its armaments because it would not be integrated into the alliance’s systems.
Ankara also repeatedly proposed setting up a commission to resolve the matter.
Source: Anadolu Agency