US, Turkey have more interests than differences: Nye

WASHINGTON

Washington and Ankara have more common interests than differences, a U.S. political scientist said Thursday.

"We had a difficult spell in U.S.-Turkey relations over the last few years, some very real differences, but I still think the common interests we have are greater than differences," Joseph Nye, a Harvard University professor, told Anadolu Agency.

His remarks came after a panel titled U.S. Foreign Policy Strategy and Challenges organized by the Turkish Heritage Foundation.

Nye cited Turkey's purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system and U.S. support for the PYD/YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror organization, as "very real differences" between the two countries.

He said both nations should do their best to keep differences out of the headlines and get down to "hard negotiations" to resolve the differences.

That must be handled in a way "to allow us to preserve our common interests," said Nye.

"We are going to have to find ways to make compromises, bargains, limits and so forth," he added.

Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations over a range of issues, including the latter’s support for the YPG/PKK terror group in northern Syria, inaction against the Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO) and anti-Turkey legislation.

*Hakan Copur contributed to this story