Turkey hopes to turn new page in ties with US, EU in 2021: Erdoğan

"I believe U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will show necessary importance to Turkey-U.S. ties," Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed in his speech to AK Party lawmakers during a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday as reiterating Turkey's wish to turn a new page in ties with U.S. and EU in 2021.

"To this day, we have gone running to those who took even a single step toward us. We maintain the same sincerity and optimism. Turkey would continue to work for peace, justice and prosperity in the region," he said.

"European Union should get rid of its strategical blindness which is pushing Turkey away from the European pact," the Turkish leader pointed out in his comments.
"Turkey has been facing double standards both over the eastern Mediterranean and the S-400s. It has been subjected to double standards by both its NATO ally Washington and the bloc," Erdoğan said in a statement while severely criticizing the biased approaches towards Ankara.

"We do not view our versatile political, economic and military ties as an alternative to our well-established relations with the US," Erdoğan concluded.

On Dec. 14, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

US officials have voiced opposition to the deal, claiming the S-400s would be incompatible with NATO systems and would expose F-35 jets to possible Russian subterfuge.

Turkey, however, stressed that the S-400s would not be integrated into NATO systems, and pose no threat to the alliance or its armaments.

Turkish officials have repeatedly proposed a working group to examine the technical compatibility issue.