Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there is a security problem between Turkey and the United States, as the United States’ cooperation with Kurdish forces in Syria poses a threat to Turkey’s national security, Turkish private broadcaster NTV reported.
The remarks came a day after US President Joe Biden cited threats from Turkey as a reason to extend the emergency order on Syria, a measure put in place in 2019.
In response, Erdogan said the US posed a threat to Turkey.
“We are expressing the same approach that the US president took in his statement on Syria yesterday, regarding their own actions in the region,” he said at the closing ceremony of the fourth Turkey-Africa Business and Economic Forum in Istanbul.
“The activities that the US is carrying out in Syria with the branches of the PKK in that country (he means the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Forces, which according to Turkey are an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), ed.) have the character of an emergency threat to Turkey’s national security. Aren’t we together with America in NATO?” Erdogan asked in a speech in Istanbul.
“Didn’t America shoot down our armed drone? Shoot it down. How can we be together with you in NATO? How can you do such a thing? There is a security problem between us,” he added.
According to Erdogan, in addition to being incompatible with the spirit of alliance and strategic partnership, Biden’s statement encourages terrorist organizations that are trying to divide Syria.
“We are determined to eliminate the terrorist threat to our country from its source, regardless of who is behind this terrorist organization,” he said, quoted by BTA.
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2023-10-13 17:40:00
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