Turkey Will Not Support NATO's Attempts To Support Israel: Erdogan (image@RTErdogan)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will not support NATO’s continued partnership with Israel. He made the remarks while speaking at a news conference at the NATO 75th anniversary summit held in Washington.
Erdogan said until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.
Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952. Israel is designated as a non-NATO ally by the US in 1987. It cooperates with the organisation in areas including technology and counterterrorism.
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Erdogan also said that Turkey will continue its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He said he has instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to restore relations with Syria, said Reuters.
During the conference, Erdogan also highlighted that Ankara will extend an invitation to Assad “any time”, for possible talks to relations between the two countries.
Speaking about the F-16 sales to Turkey, Erdogan said: “I talked to Mr. Biden. ‘I will solve this problem in 3-4 weeks’ he said'”.
In March this year, the US Senate defeated an effort to stop a $23 billion sale of F-16 jets and modernization kits to Turkey. It was allowed by President Joe Biden’s administration after Turkey approved Sweden joining the NATO alliance.
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Erdogan 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.
Ankara says that the YPG militia is a terrorist organisation, closely tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey’s Western allies, whereas YPG is not listed as one.
Erdogan also mentioned that Turkey’s goal is to become a permanent member, not just an observer, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). SCO is the security, political, and economic club that was launched in 2001 by Russia and China and the Central Asian states as a counterweight to Western alliances.
