By Safvan Allahverdi
WASHINGTON
Turkey and the U.S. should highlight areas of agreement and repair their relationship instead of focusing on disagreements, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said.
The premier's comments came at a meeting with U.S. press members earlier this week, during an official trip to the States.
"The deterioration of relations between Turkey and the United States not only affects the two countries, but it also affects global peace, and turns the issues in our region into a threat," Yildirim told the meeting held at the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington.
Pointing out the recent strained ties between Washington and Ankara, Yildirim said not only the relations between both countries, but Turkey's immediate region, and in particular, Syria and Iraq, were also going through a difficult period.
"Turkey and the United States have a very long history. Even if the relations may get strained from time to time, common sense prevails in the end and a solution is found," Yildirim continued, adding that Turkey and the U.S. could make "a fresh start".
Recalling his meeting with the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker on the first day of his U.S. trip, Yildirim said the relations need to be improved not only at the level of American administration but also at the level of Congress.
"Parliamentary visits can be increased in this regard. We could also accelerate work towards reducing some prejudices of Congress members regarding Turkey," he added.
When asked whether the U.S. was involved in last year's July 15 coup attempt, Yildirim said there was a "prevalent opinion" among the Turkish people that America was behind it in particular because the U.S. had not taken any steps regarding the U.S.-based leader of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), who orchestrated the defeated coup attempt.
"We [the government] did not establish this opinion," he stressed. "What this July 15 coup attempt means to us is the same thing as what September 11 means to the U.S. We expect more steps from the U.S. administration in this regard."
The deadly coup attempt of July 15, 2016 left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
“Just like we supported the U.S. after September 11, now we expect the same after July 15. Did the U.S. request any documents in order to search and find Osama bin Laden?” Yildirim said, referring to the "85 boxes of files" Turkey had sent to the U.S. regarding FETO’s link with the coup attempt.
However, the documents "have yet to be looked at," Yildirim said. "They are just beating around the bush. They need to explain this."
"Let me be honest. If the U.S. does not take any steps about Gulen, our relations will not improve," the premier added, calling an ally's "implicit protection of the leader of a terror organization" the "biggest threat" to bilateral relations.
US must stop arming YPG/PKK
Turning to a question about Turkey’s stance on the YPG/PKK in Syria, Yildirim said the U.S. officials told Turkey that arming the terrorist group was not a matter of "preference but a necessity" and that they "have to engage in a short-term cooperation in order to defeat Daesh".
Yildirim said the Daesh threat was mostly over, and called on the U.S. to keep its promise and withdraw all its weapons and support from the group.
He warned that if this did not happen, then the threat against Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Israel would grow.
"These weapons must be taken back immediately. They are used to kill innocent people. And this harms our relations with the U.S. You cannot establish peace in Syria with YPG," he said.
"The U.S. needs to make a decision pronto. We are faced with a more dangerous organization than Daesh. The U.S. gives these weapons for free too. Yet, it will not sell them to us. It is impossible to understand what kind of an alliance and friendship this is," he added.
S-400 deal with Russia
In response to another question about purchasing S-400 missiles from Russia, Yildirim said they had no other choice.
"We wanted to get it from NATO member countries, but failed to get the necessary support from the United States," Yildirim said.
"The fact that we have entered such a defense cooperation with Russia does not diminish our obligations or significance as a NATO member. Quite the contrary, it enhances them. We have no intention of giving up on NATO. We needed to move towards such a cooperation with Russia just to obliterate the threats against Turkey in the short term."
Yildirim highlighted that Syria had become a place where some countries "test their new weapons" and Turkey was not able to destroy 71 missiles fired on Turkish soil from there.
"We have lost 29 civilians because of those missiles. We must protect our land," he said, adding the S-400 missiles were being purchased for defense reasons, not offense.
"The U.S. and NATO countries should carefully consider why we have had to resort to this path."
