"Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established
in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be
approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit.
Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the
Russia-Ukraine war, he said.
Erdogan said as well that he has instructed Turkish Foreign
Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to
restore relations with Syria.
Turkey will extend an invitation to Assad "any
time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours,
Erdogan had said on Sunday.
Regarding F-16 sales to Turkey, Erdogan said, "I talked
to Mr. Biden. I will solve this problem in 3-4 weeks”.
In
March, the United States Senate defeated an effort to stop a US$23
billion sale of F-16 jets and modernization kits to Turkey allowed by President
Joe Biden's administration after Turkey approved Sweden joining the NATO
alliance.
He also said Turkey expects solidarity from NATO allies in
its fight against terrorism.
"It
is not possible for us to accept the crooked relationship that some of our
allies have established especially with the PYD/YPG, the extension of the
terrorist organization PKK in Syria," he said.
Turkey says the YPG militia is a terrorist organization,
closely tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. Turkey's
Western allies list the PKK as terrorist group, but not the YPG.
Turkey's
goal is to become a permanent member, not just an observer, of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), Erdogan also said.
The SCO is a security, political and economic club launched
in 2001 by Russia and China and Central Asian states as a counterweight to
Western alliances.
No comments:
Post a Comment