Erdogan: “We have been friends with Greece for many decades”

“We have been friends with Greece for many decades. We have never been members of organizations that fight against each other”said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Ankara will not succumb to pressure from the US Congress or its officials on the issue of selling the F-16, Erdogan said Monday in an interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In an interview with PBS, asked to comment on US reservations about the sale and, in particular, opposition to the deal expressed by the powerful chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Erdogan said: “It appears that Bob Menendez has taken a hostile position towards Turkey.”

“He’s trying to force us into certain discussions of his own choosing.”“Erdogan added, speaking through an interpreter, without specifying what kind of discussions these might be. “We’re not going to be a part of this” Erdogan said, adding that Menendez “not very familiar with Turkey” And, “I don’t seem to know Tayyip Erdogan either.”

Responding to PBS journalist Amna Nawaz’s comment that some of the objections to the sale were because US-made fighter jets could be used against NATO ally Greece, Erdogan said that “our friendship with Greece is not what it is imagined to be.”

“We have been friends with Greece for many decades. We have never fought against each other,” said Erdogan, who is due to meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of resuming talks between the two countries.

The Turkish leader was answering a question about human rights activist Osman Kaval, who had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment, when a US journalist tried to interrupt him several times. Erdogan said that if the judiciary made such a decision to punish a human rights defender, then it must be respected, but stressed that he “cannot speak on behalf of the judiciary.”

“You have no right to interrupt me. You will respect, you will respect the decision of the judiciary”,” the Turkish President expressed dissatisfaction with the journalist’s attempts to interrupt him.

Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist, founder of the Anadolu Kültür AŞ cultural foundation, Osman Kavala supports ethnic and religious minorities, advocates the reconciliation of Turkish and Armenian citizens, as well as a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. In Turkey, he is accused of participating in a coup attempt in 2016.

Source link