Describing his meeting with Biden as constructive.. Erdogan: Turkey is opening a new positive era with the United States

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his belief that his country is opening the doors of a new era with the United States on “positive” basis, describing his meeting with US President Joe Biden in Brussels on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week as constructive.

Erdogan indicated that he assured Biden of Turkey’s firm position on the Russian S-400 air defense system and the US F-35 fighter jets.

He stressed that Turkey’s only demand is to respect its sovereign rights in all political and economic fields, and to support its struggle against terrorist organizations.

Erdogan then expressed his country’s readiness to establish and develop a close alliance with the United States, as is the case with every country.

He

pointed out that the relations that Turkey establishes with any country is not a substitute for its relations with other countries.

NATO

In a related context, Erdogan indicated that Turkey, which has the largest army after the United States within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), fulfilled all its responsibilities towards the alliance, but the latter failed to show the strong will expected of it on many issues in the region, starting with Syria, Iraq and Palestine. And Libya, all the way to Crimea and Karabakh.

And the Turkish president added, “It was proven once again during the NATO summit that it is very difficult for NATO to maintain its existence without Turkey, let alone maintain its current strength.”

He stressed the importance of the “NATO 2030” vision, which constitutes the Alliance’s roadmap for the next ten years.

“We drew the attention of our allies (at the NATO Leaders Summit) to our country’s priorities related to the alliance’s areas of responsibility, in particular the fight against terrorism,” he added.

Erdogan pointed to Turkey’s role in combating the Islamic State, stressing that his country will never allow the formation of a dangerous entity through another terrorist organization on its southern border.

He referred to Ankara extending a helping hand to 9 million asylum seekers, inside and outside Turkey, and to the initiatives it has taken to establish stability and peace in the regions of North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucasus.