Turkey asks US to set up joint mechanism to resolve differences

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has conveyed a paper to the United States State Department for the establishment of a joint mechanism to resolve long-standing disputes, a senior Turkish official has informed, vowing a new page can be opened in the bilateral ties if Turkey’s security interests are well respected.

“Our Foreign Ministry has sent a paper to its American counterpart. It is about the structure and the process about this mechanism and which issues can be addressed. Our work about it continues,” İbrahim Kalın, the presidential spokesman, said at a meeting in Chicago on Dec. 30.

Kalın recalled that the idea of setting up a joint mechanism was born at a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Joe Biden when they met in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in late October.

Turkey wants to run the bilateral ties with the U.S. in a substantial, equal, just and transparent way and on the basis of mutual interest and respect, Kalın stressed, underlining that talks with Washington over a positive agenda are continuing.

“There are two-three fundamental issues that poison our relations,” he said, citing the U.S. support to the YPG in northern Syria, the inaction of the U.S. against the presence of Fethullah Gülen on its soils and the sanctions imposed on Turkey for the deployment of the Russian S-400 air defense systems.

“Our expectation [from the U.S.], of course, is to implement a policy review process that takes into account Turkey’s national interests,” Kalın said, highlighting that Turkey has been expressing its discomfort about these issues to the U.S. authorities, including Biden.

On a question whether Turkey and the U.S. can open a new page in ties, he said, “If certain conditions are met, if certain steps are taken, especially on the issues related to Turkey’s threat perception and national security interests, a new page will certainly open. Our relations can advance with a much more positive agenda, but, of course, it won’t be possible for us to proceed if these issues are ignored or delayed.”

Kalın underlined that Turkey will continue to exert efforts for improving ties with the U.S. in all the fields, including the defense industry, anti-terror struggle, trade and cooperation in the regional matters.