The Turkish president repeated the threat to veto the accession of Finland, Sweden to NATO
The President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan stated that the condition set by the US House of Representatives according to which, the F-16s which may be sold to Ankara, should not be used to violate Greek airspace, is not binding, according to the text of statements he made during his return flight from Tehran and was released by the Turkish presidency.
Speaking to reporters during the flight, Mr Tayyip Erdogan said US President Joe Biden did not set any conditions on the sale of the jets when the two met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid last month.
Repeating the threat of vetoing its membership Finland and Sweden to NATO, if the two countries do not keep their promises, Turkey’s president said that almost all northern European countries have turned into “nests of terrorism” and added that NATO member countries Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Britain also allow organizations that Turkey considers to be terrorist organizations to operate freely.
Erdogan on Syria and grain – He wants an agreement in the near future
A new Turkish offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria will remain on Turkey’s agenda until its security concerns are addressed, President Tayyip Erdogan said, according to a text distributed by the presidency, after talks with leaders of Iran and Russia.
Erdogan, who announced earlier this year that Turkey would launch a new offensive in northern Syria against the YPG, held talks on Syria with his Russian and Iranian counterpart in Tehran yesterday, Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on the return flight, Erdogan said the three countries are united in the fight against terrorism even though they have different views on some issues related to Syria, and added that he believes all three think alike on everything concerns the YPG, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization.
Erdogan accused the YPG, a crucial US ally in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, of “draining” Syrian oil and later selling it to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. He also said that the United States should withdraw from the region east of the Euphrates River and stop supporting terrorist organizations.
Erdogan also said he wanted a possible deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports from the Black Sea under a UN-led plan to be put in writing this week after a general agreement was reached last week, according to text distributed by the Turkish presidency today.
Yesterday, Monday, Ankara said that a meeting between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN would “likely” take place this week.
“An agreement emerged from the talks in Istanbul last week on the general outline of the process under the UN plan. Now, we want to bind this agreement to a written document,” Erdogan told reporters on the flight back from Tehran.
“We hope that the plan will start to be implemented in the coming days,” he added.
The Turkish president also said that Turkey and Russia, which are neighbors on the Black Sea, will continue their solidarity on natural gas and the Akuyu nuclear power plant, and added that he also discussed the supply of amphibious aircraft with his Russian counterpart.
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