par Humeyra Pamuk, Gabriela Baczynska, Ece Toksabay et Tuvan Gumrukcu
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was optimistic on Monday after his first meeting with his US counterpart Joe Biden, although their meeting did not lead to any concrete progress in the relationship between the two countries , in disagreement among other things on Russian arms, Syria and Libya.
“We believe that there is no difficulty in the ties between the United States and Turkey and that the opportunities for cooperation between us are richer and more important than the problems,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a meeting. that he presented as “productive and sincere”, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels.
Shortly after, Joe Biden said he was “confident” in the possibility of “real progress” in relations between the two countries.
The Turkish army, NATO’s second in size, angered its Western allies by purchasing Russian surface-to-air missiles and intervening directly in conflict zones in Syria and Libya.
The last few years have also been marked by an increase in tensions with Greece and Cyprus.
The United States has excluded Turkey from the F-25 fighter program and imposed sanctions on Ankara linked to the purchase of Russian S-400 missile batteries.
The Turkish president hoped to take advantage of the NATO summit to ensure his country a key role in Afghanistan since he offered to ensure the security and operation of Kabul airport after the withdrawal of American forces and the United States. ‘NATO, which should be completed in the coming months.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey would play a key role in Afghanistan but no decision was adopted on Monday.
(French version Marc Angrand)
–
