Erdoğan, Biden aim to leave troubles behind at NATO meeting
Before travelling to Brussels for the NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters as speaking about meeting with Joe Biden: "There was a lot of gossips internally and externally, so we need to talk about how we can leave these troubles behind, what we can do and what we will do. Turkey is not just any country - it is an allied country."
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 09:58 | 14 June 2021
- Modified Date: 10:59 | 14 June 2021
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he and U.S. President Joe Biden must use a meeting on Monday to move on from past troubles, including a bitter dispute over Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 missiles.
Before travelling to Monday's NATO summit in Brussels, Erdoğan said he expected an "unconditional approach" from Washington when he sat down with Biden for their first face-to-face session since last year's U.S. elections.
He said he would also raise the White House's recognition of the 1915 events in the then Ottoman Empire as "genocide", a move which had infuriated Ankara, and the U.S. removal of Turkey from an F-35 fighter jet programme.
"We need to put Turkey-U.S. ties on the table first-hand," Erdoğan told reporters at Istanbul's airport on Sunday.
"There was a lot of gossips internally and externally, so we need to talk about how we can leave these troubles behind, what we can do and what we will do. Turkey is not just any country - it is an allied country."
"UNCONDITIONAL APPROACH"
"An ally country taking such a stance on an issue that has nothing to do with NATO, the issue of Armenians, has disturbed and upset us. It is not possible to go on without reminding (Biden of) this," Erdoğan said.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces in World War One, but denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute genocide.
The United States cancelled the sale of 100 F-35s to Ankara after the S-400 purchase in 2019. Erdoğan has accused Washington of breaking promises over the alternative U.S. Patriot missiles.
"Unfortunately there is a Turkey that has realised its promises and the United States that has not kept its (promises) or abided by the contract," Erdoğan said of the programme.
"We must see an unconditional approach from the United States, without any 'buts', that will add to the cooperation and strength of NATO," he added.
Washington says the Russian S-400s are incompatible with NATO defences and the F-35 fighter jets, concerns Ankara has rejected.