Trump promises Ankara to take necessary steps for F-35s: Turkish FM

ANKARA

U.S. President Donald Trump has promised Turkey that he would take necessary steps regarding F-35 fighter jets, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Speaking at a televised interview on June 29, Çavuşoğlu said there were no problems with the procurement of F-35 warplanes from the United States so far, and he did not think there would be any problems in the future.

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey had conveyed discomfort about the issue to Trump, who said necessary steps would be taken.

A working group between Turkey and the U.S. will convene in Ankara on July 13 and another working group will meet later to discuss the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), he said.

“Turkey will not cut off trade ties with Iran at the behest of other countries,” he said after the United States this week told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November.

“Iran is a good neighbor and we have economic ties. We are not going to cut off our trade ties with Iran because other countries told us so,” he stated.

“If the United States’ decisions are aimed at peace and stability, then we’ll support them, but we don’t have to follow every decision. Being allies doesn’t mean following every decision word for word,” he noted.

“The U.S. should not act on the issue of Iran upon Israel’s manipulation,” he said.

“Destabilizing a country like Iran will not benefit anyone; it will not benefit the U.S. either,” he added.

Syrian regime’s attacks in southern Syria

He also condemned the Syrian regime’s attacks on rebel-held towns in southern Syria and called on Russia and the U.S. to stop the offensive that has killed dozens of civilians.

Recalling that Russia and the U.S. earlier made a de-conflict zone deal for the region’s security, Çavuşoğlu said Russia and the U.S. should intervene amid the ongoing attacks there.

“The [Bashar al-] Assad regime attacked those areas. Who did the agreements? The U.S. and Russia. If those deals are broken, then the Geneva, Astana, Sochi meetings will be irrelevant,” he said.

With Russia’s help, Assad’s army has battered Daraa province for over a week with air strikes, rocket fire and crude barrel bombs.

June 28 was the bloodiest day yet after dozens of strikes identified as Russian killed 25 civilians, mostly in the town of Al-Mseifra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.