Turkish president says he wants to "open a new page in US relations" after Trump imposes sanctions on Ankara over buying planes
On the way to getting closer to Turkey and the US? // Photo: AFP
Photography:
AFP
Turkey seeks calm:
A week and a half after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Ankara over its purchase of S400 systems from Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is already working directly to improve relations between him and US President-elect Joe Biden.
"I believe that Biden will understand the importance of Turkey-US relations.
He will be welcomed by us, "Erdogan said today (Wednesday)." We want to open a new page in our relations with the United States and the European Union in 2021. "
The Turkish president made the remarks at a meeting with members of parliament from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he heads.
Erdogan noted that "we have had a challenging year at the level of relations with the United States and the European Union.
I hope the union gets rid of its strategic blindness. "The Turkish president even claimed:" We do not see our versatile international relations as a substitute for our established relations with the United States. "
"I think Erdogan fears the escalation of existing US sanctions following the acquisition of the S400 systems as well as the imposition of new EU sanctions due to the friction between Turkey and Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean," Dr. Chai Eitan Cohen Inrog told Israel Today K, Researcher of Modern Turkey at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.
The senior researcher noted that "the Turkish president is not obliged to speak before the General Assembly of the Parliament in Ankara. However, he is also considered the chairman of the Justice and Development Party and therefore he must be present at the faction meetings.
Due to his position as president, he is not considered among the 600 members of parliament.
Therefore, he makes all the important statements at faction meetings.
He comes to the General Assembly of Parliament to give a speech, especially on holidays.
In doing so, he refrained from entering into a dialogue with the opposition.
He is transmitting to the people that he is 'in another league'. "