We believe that all of Turkey’s moves are made with Greece in mind, and that is the greatest mistake. When competent diplomats and government officials explain that things are not like that, they are attacked.
With the raging Russo-Ukrainian war, Washington has been forced to strike a delicate balance between its two old NATO allies so as to avoid dangerous fissures.
We have an obligation to utilise every window of opportunity to achieve a peaceful resolution of bilateral differences, especially when it is determined by the principles of international law
Once one of Erdogan's closest associates,, over a span of 13 years he served as foreign minister and minister of economy, and between 2002 and 2015 he was deputy prime minister of Turkey.
Ankara has systematically encroached on the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Cyprus and Greece, including through the 2019 Libya-Turkey agreement on the delimitation of the two countries’ maritime zones, that has been condemned internationally.
Ankara’s geopolitical shift toward Moscow and the accompanying threat to the cohesion of NATO, in which Turkey has the second largest army, lies at the core of US-Turkey problems.. Washington would like to bring Turkey back into the fold, but not on Ankara’s terms.
The expanded US-Greece strategic relationship as reflected in the revised Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement is by all accounts another step – after the Greece-France defence accord – toward shielding Greece against Turkish threats.
'Ι have been ruling for 19 years. I collaborated with Bush’s son, with Mr. Obama, and with Mr. Trump, but I cannot say that we got off to a good start with Mr. Biden.'
In order to persuade the EU of his putatively good intentions. Erdogan agreed to resume exploratory talks with Greece (that he had cut off in July, 2016) on 25 January.
“We will surely take our steps in line with these,” he told broadcaster Kanal 24. “It’s not important whether the sanctions are soft or harsh, sanctions in themselves are wrong,” he said.
Especially the ban on permission for arms exports to Turkey triggered grave concerns and greatly alarmed Ankara.
Washington imposed the long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey’s top defence procurement and development body, its chairman and three other employees.
Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey was fulfilling its responsibilities in the F-35 project and expected the program to continue as planned. He said buying the S-400s was only meant to meet Turkey’s defense needs and posed no threats.
