Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President of the United States (US) Joe Biden reportedly contacted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday (23/4/2021). This phone call was Biden’s first call to Erdogan.
This summons came more than three months after Biden’s inauguration on January 20. This is often seen as a cold shoulder for Erdogan, who has enjoyed close ties with former president Donald Trump.
Reported by Reuters, the two leaders reportedly agreed to establish constructive cooperation for the two countries.
“President Biden spoke today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressing his interest in constructive bilateral relations with expanded areas of cooperation and effective dispute management,” the White House said in a statement.
A statement from the Turkish presidency said Biden and Erdogan agreed on the “strategic character of bilateral relations and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of common interest.”
Apart from that, Biden also expressed some of his intentions to meet Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in June to have a broader conversation about the relationship between their two countries.
Furthermore, in the telephone connection, it was rumored that Biden would acknowledge the ethnic Armenian massacre of 1915 which was carried out by the Ottoman Sultanate as a genocide.
This was conveyed directly to Erdogan after the White House described events during the First World War as “Metz Yeghern” or major crimes. However, these talks were not further described by either side.
Turkey is known for refusing to call the massacres genocide. Ankara claims that this happened as a form of a war scenario.
Meanwhile, relations between Washington and Ankara are known to have been strained over a number of issues, from Turkey’s purchase of a Russian S-400 defense system, which was the target of US sanctions, to policy differences in Syria, human rights and legal issues.
Erdogan has forged close ties with Trump, but since Biden took over, Washington has become more vocal about Turkey’s human rights track record. Not only that, but the White House also stands firm on its request that Ankara get rid of the Russian defense system.
(wia)
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