US risks 'losing a friend', Erdogan warns before assembly Biden
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that america risked "losing a valuable friend" if it attempts to corner his region, speaking two weeks before his first meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden.
Currently tense, relations between your several NATO states have even more deteriorated since Biden replaced Erdogan's ally Donald Trump on January, with the brand new president making a spot of highlighting Turkey's dire human rights record.
When asked about Ankara-Washington relations, Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT about Tuesday that "those who part the Republic of Turkey will lose a important friend."
Erdogan's combative stance comes ahead of the first meeting between your two leaders on the sidelines of a good NATO summit found in Brussels on June 14.
Biden was in no rush to consult with the Turkish head after taking office, waiting around 90 days before calling Erdogan in April.
That contact was also on the eve of Biden's historic decision to recognise the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman empire during World War I, a approach that outraged Turkey which rejects that term.
"What is definitely the reason behind our tensions (with the US)? The so-named Armenian genocide," Erdogan stated on Tuesday.
"Don't have you possess any other concerns to deal with rather than advocating for Armenia?"
He likewise listed several issues that contain strained relations since 2016, including US support for Kurdish militias in Syria that Turkey deems "terrorists."
"If america is definitely our ally, as long as they part with the terrorists or perhaps around? Unfortunately, they continue steadily to support the terrorists," he said.
Erdogan had previously indicated he designed to mend ties with Biden, last week saying their meeting is a "harbinger of a fresh era" found in US-Turkey relations.
On Tuesday Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, said he has always were able to work with the individual in the White House "whether he is a Republican or a Democract." - AFP
