Then US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016. Biden called Erdogan the day before making his announcement on Armenia. Photo: AFP/Kayhan Ozer/Turkey’s Presidential Press Service

Over the weekend, President Joe Biden became the first US leader in history to acknowledge that the World War I-era deaths of about 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians constituted a genocide.

In doing so, he ended decades of US hedging on this controversial subject, while also satisfying many in the Armenian diaspora and in the Caucasian country itself.

Yet Biden’s acknowledgment also plunged US-Turkish relations to a new low.

“We entirely reject this statement,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, following Biden’s announcement, adding: “Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice.”

The US ambassador to Ankara was duly summoned for an official complaint, while Turkish opposition parties also joined in to denounce Biden’s move.

“This statement will cause irreparable wounds and have an adverse impact on US-Turkey relations,” an April 25 statement from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) representative office in Washington read.

Biden’s statement thus becomes another dispute to add to the long list of disagreements between Turkey and the US.

This list includes Turkish allegations of US support for groups Ankara sees as terrorists in Syria, Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles and alleged Turkish busting of US sanctions on Iranian oil and gas.

Yet, it may be that with relations already so poor, “there was no additional strategic risk for the US in doing this,” Hratch Tchilingirian, from Oxford University’s Faculty of Oriental Studies, told Asia Times.

At the same time, too, while in the short-term, Biden’s acknowledgment has undoubtedly made poor US-Turkish relations worse, it may also create the potential for longer-term normalization.

“This statement closes the file,” Tchilingirian added. “Now they have to move on.”

A picture released by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute purportedly shows Armenians hung by Ottoman forces in Constantinople in June 1915. Photo: AFP/AGMI

Dark times

The Armenian genocide refers to the organized killing of some 1.5 million ethnic Armenians – and the displacement of some two million more – during the death throes of the Ottoman Empire.

That empire – the precursor to modern Turkey – included a large Armenian population, spread throughout its extensive domains.

In 1915, during World War I, the Ottoman authorities – who deeply mistrusted the Armenian community – ordered most of these people out of their homes to resettlement areas in remote regions.

These relocations quickly turned into death marches, as defenseless Armenians were attacked by Turkish and Kurdish irregulars ­– and sometimes regular Ottoman troops and police.

Many, indeed, never made it to their destinations.

In recent years, Turkey has acknowledged that this horror did occur.

Indeed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his own April 24 message, addressed to the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul, that, “I remember with respect the Ottoman Armenians, who lost their lives under the harsh conditions of the First World War, and offer my condolences to their grandchildren.”

For Ankara, though, those “harsh conditions” do not amount to “genocide.”

This has long infuriated most Armenians, for whom the catastrophic events of those years shaped much of their present identity – and constitute a major barrier to any reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.

A row of 10 Thunderbolt II planes, also known as ‘tank killers,’ at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, on October 22, 2015. Photo: AFP/Incirlik Air Base/Anadolu Agency

Ways forward

Now, many are waiting to see whether responses from Ankara to the US move will constitute anything more than verbal denunciations.

Potential consequences range from a possible impact on current efforts to smooth the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, to uncertainty over continued US use of a major military base in Turkey.

Regarding the first, since Biden announced the US would pull out in September, Washington has been trying to arrange a power-sharing administration to take over, once it has withdrawn.

A conference on this – involving Turkey – is due to take place in Istanbul after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“Turkey could spoil this conference,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the German Marshal Fund’s Ankara Director, told Asia Times, “as it wouldn’t have any impact on Turkey’s security, but Biden needs to make sure the US withdrawal isn’t a disaster.”

The military base – Incirlik in southeastern Turkey – is a Turkish facility that is also a NATO airbase, used by the US air force for many of its missions around the region.

Closing it to US planes might have a serious impact on American military capability in Syria and Iraq.

In those neighboring countries, “since 2019, under an agreement with the US, Turkey hasn’t made any more incursions into northern Syria,” says Unluhisarcikli, “but could do now. Likewise, in Iraq, Turkey could take action and go in there.”

Potential versus likelihood

Yet, for all these possibilities, doubts remain if Turkey or the US are really looking for confrontation right now.

Biden’s statement on the genocide may contain some clues on this, too.

In it, the US leader stressed the historical, Ottoman-era nature of the horror.

“He didn’t mention Turkey at all,” points out Unluhisarcikli. “He even used the old name for Istanbul – Constantinople. This was Biden providing Turkey with some leeway.”

The US president had also called Erdogan the day before making his announcement, giving the Turkish leader fair warning and allowing him to stress Ankara’s continuing importance to the US.

This was also the first time Biden had spoken to the Turkish leader since taking office in January, tying the genocide announcement to a resumption of US-Turkish presidential dialogue.

Erdogan also participated in the US-sponsored Earth Summit last week, taking a generally positive view of this new US effort to lead the global fight against climate change.

“Turkey is not going to break diplomatic relations with the US over this,” says Tchilingarian. “It just ends something that has been going on for 50 years, with the US saying, ‘this is our position.’ Turkey doesn’t have to agree with it.”

Armenia supporters watch from a balcony during a rally in Hollywood commemorating the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on April 24, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP/Mario Tama/Getty Images

For Biden, too, acknowledging the genocide fulfills a campaign pledge he made to Armenian-American voters, while also establishing that “he’s someone ready to acknowledge shameful events in the past,” Unluhisarcikli adds. “Whether that be in the US, with support for Black Lives Matter, or elsewhere.”

This establishment of moral leadership is clearly important to Biden.

Yet, to many in Turkey, such moves may not appear so noble.

“To many, this singling out of Turkey seems to highlight a perceived ‘double standard’ in the West,” Unluhisarcikli says. “Citizens of Turkey will make a judgment from this about the US that will be a problem, in the longer run.”

For many Armenians, too, the whole issue illustrates what they have regrettably come to expect, as the long struggle for recognition has gone on.

“You know that under the veil of moral certitude,” says Tchilingirian, “the genocide is just being used for political gains. Its politicization does make many Armenians pretty angry.”

Source: https://asiatimes.com/2021/04/biden-drops-a-genocide-bomb-on-erdogan/

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US President Donald Trump warned Turkey Monday (6 October) against going too far in Syria, one day after giving Ankara a green light to invade its southern neighbor, sparking panic among Washington’s Kurdish allies.

The Pentagon pulled back only about two dozen of its forces from Syria’s northern frontier, where they serve as a buffer between the Turkish military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, after Trump’s surprise announcement late Sunday that US forces “will no longer be in the immediate area.”

At the news of US withdrawal, on Saturday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said a military incursion of Turkish troops into northeastern Syria was imminent.

But amid an outcry from the region and strong opposition at home from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the US leader appeared to reverse himself, though without drawing any specific red lines that might protect Kurdish allies.

“If Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off-limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),” Trump tweeted.

Other US officials, apparently surprised by Trump’s Sunday announcement, stressed that Washington will not actively support the long-threatened Turkish action, warning of destabilizing blowback to the region.

“The Department of Defense made clear to Turkey — as did the president — that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in Northern Syria,” said Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman.

A senior State Department official said the United States would not “act militarily” to stop the Turks.

However, the official added, “We think this operation is a very bad idea. We do not think this operation will provide more security.”

Invasion could ‘come any night’

The region has been on edge for weeks over expected Turkish military operations across the border, which Erdoğan warned Monday could “come any night without warning.”

It would threaten the Kurds who dominate the SDF militia, a crucial partner in the US-led coalition that defeated the Islamic State and currently controls much of northeastern Syria.

Turkey regards the SDF as a terror threat because it maintains ties to Kurdish militants inside Turkey, and it has vowed to crush them.

Ankara says it wants to establish a “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border where it could send back some of the 3.6 million refugees from the eight-year civil war.

Kurds argue that Ankara’s goal is to dilute its dominance in the region with an influx of mostly Sunni Arab refugees.

IS fighters could be freed

Trump said via Twitter Monday that he wanted to extricate the United States from “endless and ridiculous wars.”

But a Turkish attack could force the SDF to free some 10,000 Islamic State fighters captured in battle over the past two years, potentially allowing them to reconstitute the violent jihadist group.

Trump declared that it would be the responsibility of Turkey and other countries to deal with the ISIS prisoners.

“Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured ISIS fighters in their ‘neighborhood.’”

Fearing yet another chapter of bloodshed and mass displacement, the United Nations said it was “preparing for the worst”.

EU position

The European Union warned that civilians would once again bear the brunt of a military assault.

“We call on Turkey to avoid any initiative that would run counter to the interests of the global coalition” fighting IS in Syria, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said that while recognizing Turkey’s legitimate security concerns, the EU has from the very beginning said that any sustainable solution to the Syria conflict will not be reached through military means, but requires a genuine political transition, in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254 and the 2012 Geneva communiqué negotiated by the Syrian parties within the UN-led Geneva process.

Renewed armed hostilities in the north-east will not only exacerbate civilian suffering and lead to massive displacement, but risk severely undermining current political efforts, she said.

“We continue to urge the Astana guarantors, which include Turkey, to ensure a cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians and unhindered safe and sustainable humanitarian access through all of Syria”, she said.

The so-called Astana process, parallel to the UN-led Geneva process, is led by three “guarantor” countries, Turkey, Russia, and Iran.

Minimal US pullback

Washington officials minimized the pullback of troops that Trump had announced late Sunday.

The State Department official indicated that the number pulled back – out of as many as a thousand estimated in place along the border — was “two very small detachments” numbering about 25 people, who would move only a “very short distance.”

“We don’t want those troops to be there and thus send a signal that they are supporting the operation,” the officials said.

“Beyond that, there’s no change to our military posture in the northeast.”

Trenches and tunnels

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed Monday that US forces had departed key positions in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad, where Kurdish forces have dug trenches and tunnels to defend against attack.

A US base in Ras al-Ain was empty of personnel on Monday, said an AFP photographer, who had seen troops there the night before.

SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said Washington’s decision “is about to ruin the trust and cooperation between the SDF and US.”

The group noted it had already lost some 11,000 fighters in the fight against Islamic State.

“As the Syrian Democratic Forces, we are determined to defend our land at all costs,” the group said.

‘Prepare for war’

In Ras al-Ain on Sunday, local armed forces allied with the Kurdish administration stood behind dirt berms, monitoring the frontier.

They had covered streets in the town with large metal canopies to block the view of Turkish drones, sources there told AFP.

“The prudent should prepare for war,” said Mustefa Bozan, a 79-year-old shopkeeper.

“The fate of the region will be the same as that of Afrin,” 38-year-old Issam Daoud said, referring to a former Kurdish enclave captured by Turkish troops and Syrian rebels last year.

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/trump-reconsiders-syria-withdrawal-strongly-warns-turkey-against-military-adventures/

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Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/190874-181213-us-warns-turkey-any-unilateral-military-action-in-syria-worrying-and-unacceptable

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats to target Kurdish fighters Monday as he sent more troops to the border with Syria ahead of an imminent US withdrawal.

Turkey was in Syria “to return the freedom of our Arab brothers and sisters, to return the freedom of our Kurdish brothers and sisters”, he said during a speech in Ankara.

“Just as we did not leave our Syrian Arabs to Daesh (IS), we will not leave Syrian Kurds to the cruelty of the PKK,” he said during a speech in Ankara.

A Turkish military convoy arrived overnight on Monday at the border with Syria, with local media reporting that some vehicles had entered Syria.

In a telephone conversation Sunday between Trump and Erdogan, which both sides described as “productive”, they agreed to avoid a power vacuum in Syria after the US withdrawal.

The US leader tweeted that Erdogan had told him Ankara would “eradicate” the last IS elements.

Turkey has said any offensive targeting the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia and the Islamic State (IS) group will be launched in the coming months.

Ankara views the YPG as a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Unlike several other allies of the United States, Turkey has praised US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 2,000 his ground forces from Syria.

Trump stunned the US political establishment and allies last week with his decision, days after Erdogan had warned that Ankara would soon launch an offensive in northern Syria.

Critics of Trump’s decision fear that thousands of Islamic State (IS) group extremist members are still thought to be in Syria, despite Trump’s claim of having defeated IS.

– Convoy enters Syria –

A Turkish military convoy with howitzers, artillery batteries and several units of the armed forces, was deployed to the border district of Elbeyli in Kilis province, state news agency Anadolu reported on Monday.

Parts of the convoy had entered Syria, the private IHA news agency reported, which said the reinforcements would take place “gradually”.

The deployment began over the weekend with around 100 vehicles, Hurriyet daily said, and crossed into the Al-Bab region, headed towards Jarabulus and YPG-held Manbij.

Jarabulus and Al-Bab were areas captured from IS during Ankara’s first military operation in August 2016 which lasted until March 2017.

Military reinforcements had also been sent to the Akcakale border town and Ceylanpinar district, both in the southeastern Sanliurfa province.

Turkey conducted a second offensive with Syrian rebels against the YPG in its northwestern enclave of Afrin in January this year.

Turkish officials have previously said Ankara has no territorial ambitions in Syria.

– Warming Turkey-US relations –

In a tweet on Sunday, Trump said he discussed a “slow & highly coordinated pullout” of troops from Syria with Erdogan, even as some allies expressed they dismay.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he “deeply regretted” the US decision.

Trump’s move has also sparked turmoil within the administration. First Defence Secretary Jim Mattis resigned, then Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the anti-IS coalition, stepped down.

American support for the YPG, under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, has long been a source of tension between NATO allies the US and Turkey.

But relations between the Turkish and American leaders appear to have improved substantially since a crisis in the summer over the detention of a US pastor, since released.

Last week, the US approved the sale of $3.5 billion in missiles to Turkey, after American outrage over Ankara’s major arms purchase from Russia.

But there are still strains over the US refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Muslim preacher who Turkey says ordered the 2016 failed coup.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6527307/More-Turkish-troops-Syria-border-ahead-US-pullout.html

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The Turkish judge’s ruling ended a tense diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and Turkey that began after Brunson’s October 2016 detention on terror and treason charges. Turkey targeted the 50-year-old pastor as part of a massive government crackdown following a failed coup months earlier. Brunson was officially sentenced to three years and one month in prison for the conviction; but, because he had already served two years in detention, he wasn’t required to spend any more time behind bars.

Brunson appeared Friday at a prison complex in Izmir for his fourth hearing, telling the courtroom he’s “an innocent man.”

“I love Jesus. I love Turkey,” Brunson said, according to the Associated Press. Witnesses later said he wept as the verdict was announced.

His lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, said Brunson was expected to leave Turkey for the United States later today. Sources told Fox News that the pastor would stop in Germany for a medical exam before flying over the Atlantic.

Prosecutors had accused Brunson of acting on behalf of terror groups, specifically linking him to outlawed Kurdish militants and a network led by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is accused of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt.

Pastor Andrew Brunson, center, sits inside a car as he arrives for his trial in Izmir, Turkey, early Friday.,

Brunson — who is from North Carolina and led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church — had routinely denied the accusations made against him. He appeared at the hearing Friday wearing a black suit, white shirt and red tie, while his wife, Norine, watched from the visitors seating area, according to Reuters.

The court on Friday called two witnesses, following alleged tips from witness Levent Kalkan, who at a previous hearing had accused Brunson of aiding terror groups. But the new witnesses didn’t confirm Kalkan’s story and another prosecution witness said she did not even know Brunson.

Brunson on Friday also again denied accusations his church aided Kurdish militants. Brunson said he handed over to authorities a list of Syrian refugees the congregation had helped and believed Turkish officials would then have identified any terrorists.

“We helped everyone, Kurds, Arabs, without showing any discrimination,” Brunson said, according to the AP.

Brunson was arrested and detained for 18 months before finally being charged by the Turkish government with a connection to the coup attempt.

U.S. officials also refuted the accusations against Brunson, and amid mounting pressure from American politicians, Brunson was moved from prison to house arrest in July.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., hailed the verdict Friday, calling it “long overdue news” and adding that “the Turkish government should put Pastor Brunson on the next flight home.”

The Trump administration advocated persistently for Brunson’s release, leading to an intense economic showdown between the two NATO allies. In August, the U.S. slapped sanctions on an array of Turkish officials and on some goods, sending Turkish currency into freefall.

Brunson was not the only American behind bars in Turkey on questionable charges. Several Turkish-American citizens — including NASA scientist Serkan Golge and several workers from the United States Embassy in Ankara — are languishing in prison alleged to have a connection to Gulen’s group.

Fox News’ Hollie McKay, John Roberts, Kathleen Joyce and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/andrew-brunson-american-pastor-detained-in-turkey-is-freed-sentenced-to-time-served

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“I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%,” Trump tweeted Friday. “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”

The Turkish lira, tumbled from 4.7 to the dollar to a depleted 6.4 to the dollar, for the first time in history breaking the 6 mark. The lira is reported to have more than 30 percent of its value throughout August, with the biggest hit – a fall of 14 percent – happening Friday. The yield on Turkish decade-long bonds has risen to over 20 percent and inflation is now running at over 15 percent compared to 11 percent one year ago, according to TradingEconomics.

At the crux of the diplomatic dispute is Turkey’s refusal to release American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey for 21 months on “terrorism” charges – suspected of having ties to the outlawed Gulenist movement – along with alleged espionage accusations. U.S. State Department representatives have called the file against him as entirely uncreditable.

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Donald Trump with Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 11. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the U.S. that its decades-long alliance with the country is at risk after rising political tensions between the two nations erupted and helped stoke a financial crisis that shook global markets.

Erdogan, in an editorial Friday in the New York Times, cited Turkey’s cooperation with the U.S. dating back to the Cuban missile crisis and the Korean War as evidence of a long-standing partnership between the NATO allies. But he added that more recent disputes over a failed 2016 coup, the conflict in Syria and sanctions imposed this week against top Turkish officials and the country’s steel industry were straining that alliance to its breaking point.

“Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives,” Erdogan wrote. “Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.”

Turkey’s economy was already taking a beating — with the lira plunging as Erdogan urged his citizens in a nationally-televised speech to sell their gold and dollar holdings to help prop up the lira — when President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced on Twitter that he was doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum from Turkey.

Market Rout

“Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!” Trump said in a move that accelerated a market rout in Turkey that spread across emerging markets. The lira plunged as much as 17 percent on Friday alone, bringing its loss for the year to 42 percent. Beyond investor fears about measures the U.S. could take, the sell-off represented a vote of no-confidence in a new system of government that earlier this year handed Erdogan unrivaled authority, essentially paralyzing the bureaucracy in Ankara.

While Trump’s announcement added fuel to the crisis, many investors say the $900 billion economy was already headed toward a cliff, and only needed a push.

The deterioration in ties with the U.S. had been under way for years and began accelerating after the failed 2016 coup. Even before the latest tensions this week, Erdogan had been courting Moscow, inking an agreement to buy a Russian missile defense system.

NATO Concern

That raised alarms in Western capitals and the U.S. Congress that Turkey was becoming a less-reliable partner in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization despite hosting the U.S. and other allies at its Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State. Erdogan has also expanded his outreach to Iran and China.

In his article, Erdogan cited a series of well known grievances he said were poisoning ties. He said the U.S. has dragged its feet on Turkey’s request to extradite Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric and former ally living in Pennsylvania who Erdogan blames for the 2016 coup. The U.S. Justice Department has said it’s reviewing documents Turkey has provided as evidence Gulen should be deported, but no legal action has been taken.

Erdogan also cited U.S. support for Kurdish militias in the Syrian war. Ankara views those groups as linked to Turkish Kurds it says are terrorists. The U.S. says they aren’t linked.

Sanction Anger

The Turkish leader was angered by Washington’s decision this week to sanction two top officials it says have been involved in detaining an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, since 2016. The U.S. says Turkey has no evidence to keep detaining Brunson, an evangelical whose case has been championed by Vice President Mike Pence.

The Trump administration has said it believes Erdogan reneged on an agreement to free Brunson, who is next due to appear in a Turkish court on Oct. 12. A call earlier this year between Trump and Erdogan broke down over the issue of detainees. Besides Brunson, Trump railed about Turkey’s holding of Serkan Golge, a NASA scientist who, like Brunson, has been imprisoned since 2016, according to a person familiar with the call.

While Erdogan’s article didn’t cite Trump by name, the standoff has increasingly had a personal feel to it and it’s not clear how either side can politically afford to lower the rhetorical volume and reach a deal. A one-day visit to Washington by Turkish officials this week produced no solution.

“The United States has repeatedly and consistently failed to understand and respect the Turkish people’s concerns,” Erdogan wrote on Friday. “Unless the United States starts respecting Turkey’s sovereignty and proves that it understands the dangers that our nation faces, our partnership could be in jeopardy.”

— With assistance by Justin Sink, Constantine Courcoulas, and Benjamin Harvey

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-11/erdogan-warns-trump-that-alliance-is-at-risk-as-tensions-climb

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The Turkish military launched a ground incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan in March, seizing control of villages and territory previously controlled by the PKK, a group that been fighting the Turkish state for decades.

Statements by Turkish government officials suggest the incursion may develop into an attempt to take control of the Qandil mountains, which have served as the PKK’s main base for decades. However, any such aims will be difficult to achieve without the co-operation of Iran, whose northern border with Iraq the mountain range straddles.

According to Duran, the Iranians have, thus far, shown little inclination to co-operate with Turkey over the operation for two main reasons.

First, Iran is wary of the long-term consequences substantial Turkish military operations against the PKK’s main bases will have for its growing influence in Iraq, which has expanded steadily as US influence over Iraq has waned.

Iran also feels, wrote Duran, that co-operation with Turkey over the PKK in Iraq is not required to achieve its wider goals in the region. This is despite Turkey having refrained from openly supporting the block formed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates that aims to curb growing Iranian regional influence and having worked closely with Iran as partners in the Astana process that aims to bring the Syrian conflict to an end.

Iran may soon come to regret its uncooperative stance regarding Turkey’s military operations in Iraq, says Duran, as strained relations between the United States and Turkey are improving following a recent agreement between the two countries over the status of the disputed Syrian city of Manbic.

Such improvements in US-Turkish relations, he implies, may result in Ankara becoming more receptive to US overtures that aim to convince Turkey to play a more active role in limiting Iranian ambition. Iran, in turn, will have cause to regret its “swollen ambitions”.

Source: https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-iran/iran-will-regret-lack-co-operation-turkey-over-northern-iraq

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Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives released details on Friday of a $717 billion annual defense policy bill, including a measure to temporarily halt weapons sales to Turkey.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Cavusoglu said the measures in the bill were wrong, illogical and not fitting between the NATO allies.

“If the United States imposes sanctions on us or takes such a step, Turkey will absolutely retaliate,” Cavusoglu said. “What needs to be done is the U.S. needs to let go of this.

The proposed U.S. National Defense Authorization Act, which is several steps from becoming law, would ask the Defense Department to provide Congress with a report on the relationship between the United States and Turkey, and would block the sale of major defense equipment until the report was complete.

Turkey plans to buy more than 100 of Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, and is also in talks with Washington over the purchase of Patriot missiles.

Turkey signed an agreement with Russia in December to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries as part of Ankara’s plans to boost its defense capabilities amid threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants at home and conflicts across its borders in Syria and Iraq.

The move to buy S-400s, which are incompatible with the NATO systems, has unnerved NATO member countries, which are already wary of Moscow’s military presence in the Middle East, prompting NATO officials to warn Turkey of unspecified consequences.

Cavusoglu dismissed the warnings, saying Turkey’s relations and agreements with Russia were not an alternative to its ties with the West and accused the United States of trying to control Turkey’s actions.

“Turkey is not a country under your orders, it is an independent country… Speaking to such a country from above, dictating what it can and cannot buy, is not a correct approach and does not fit our alliance,” he said.

Relations between Ankara and Washington have been strained over a host of issues in recent months, including U.S. policy in Syria and a number of legal cases against Turkish and U.S. nationals being held in the two countries.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Cavusoglu that the United States was seriously concerned over Ankara’s decision to buy the Russian S-400 missile batteries.

Cavusoglu said he would visit the United States next week to meet Pompeo, but added a specific date had not been set yet.

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