Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he had a “fruitful and sincere” meeting with US President Joe Biden during the NATO summit in Brussels.
“We believe that there is no problem in Turkish relations that cannot be resolved,” Erdogan added after meeting with Biden for the first time since the latter was elected.
At a press conference held during the NATO summit in Brussels, Erdogan stated that the “extensive talks” with Biden covered cooperation on regional issues and emphasized his long-standing friendship with US leaders.
In a brief exchange with reporters, Biden called this a “very good meeting.” Before other officials joined, he and Erdogan held a private meeting that lasted more than an hour.
The President of the United States later told reporters that the discussion was “active and fruitful.” He said that the two sides “have discussed in detail how to handle some issues,” but did not disclose more details.
Biden has known Erdogan for many years, but their relationship is often controversial. During the campaign, Biden’s description of Erdogan as a “dictator” aroused the outrage of Turkish officials.
In April of this year, Biden declared that the mass murder and deportation of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire was “genocide,” a term avoided by successive US presidents. This action angered Turkey.
Erdogan stated that the two leaders failed to find a way to overcome Turkey’s differences in purchasing the Russian S-400 advanced missile defense system. The United States said the technology poses a threat to NATO and removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter program.
“Our thoughts on the S-400 are the same as before, and I conveyed our same thoughts to Mr. Biden,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan also called on the United States to stop supporting Syrian Kurdish armed groups, which Turkey considers to be “terrorists.”
One area where Erdogan hopes to demonstrate Turkey’s central role in NATO is Afghanistan. Turkey has proposed to guard and operate Kabul Airport after the withdrawal of US and NATO forces in the next few weeks. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey will play a key role, but no decision was made at the summit on Monday.
Meet Macron
Before meeting Biden, the Turkish President also met with other world leaders during the summit, including German Chancellor Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Macron.
Macron said on Twitter that he hopes to “move forward” with Turkey after the meeting and establish a relationship of high standards and mutual respect.
This is their first meeting since the dispute between the two countries peaked after Erdogan questioned Macron’s mental health in October last year.
(Social networking sites)Macron’s office stated that he hopes all NATO allies will make a clear commitment to the military organization’s values, principles, and rules.
The Elysée Palace said the two discussed Libya and Syria. Macron specifically accused Turkey of strengthening its military presence in Libya and bringing in armed fighters from Syria to flout its promises.
Macron also emphasized that French secularism respects all religions, including Islam.
The French Presidential Palace stated that it needed “clarification” in response to Erdogan’s severe criticism of Macron’s attitude towards Islam and Muslims.
Among other developments in the summit, NATO member states pledged for the first time to confront China’s military ambitions, and issued a communiqué stating that China poses a “systemic challenge” to the transatlantic security alliance.
The NATO communique also stated that the alliance will adapt to climate-related security challenges, calling on Russia to abandon its identification of the two allies, the United States and the Czech Republic, as “unfriendly countries,” and urged Iran to stop all ballistic missile activities.
(Al Jazeera).