Archive for the ‘Erdogan’ Category

Turkish opposition backs Erdogan over Greek island claims – Kathimerini English Edition

[Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool]

The Turkish opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) has expressed its agreement with the recent government escalation vis--vis Greece and indicated that it would support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he decided to go through with a threat to challenge the sovereignty of Greek islands in the eastern Aegean.

If you have the heart for it, take the step on the occupied and armed islands. We will support you, CHP chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu was quoted by Turkish media as saying in response to one of a series of questions posed to him by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the Grand National Assembly on Wednesday.

It is imperative that we increase the pressure in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, he said.

These things arent handled by sending out a ship, then pulling I back and saying: I wish Biden would call me, he added, in reference to US President Joe Biden.

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Turkish opposition backs Erdogan over Greek island claims - Kathimerini English Edition

Erdogan: Turkey’s Syria operation could happen ‘suddenly’ – The Associated Press

ISTANBUL (AP) Turkeys president told journalists that Ankara remains committed to rooting out a Syrian Kurdish militia from northern Syria.

Like I always say, well come down on them suddenly one night. And we must, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on his plane following his Saturday visit to Azerbaijan, according to daily Hurriyet newspaper and other media.

Without giving a specific timeline, Erdogan said that Turkey would launch a cross-border operation against the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, which it considers a terrorist group linked to an outlawed Kurdish group that has led an insurgency against Turkey since 1984. That conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, has killed tens of thousands of people.

However, the YPG forms the backbone of U.S.-led forces in the fight against the Islamic State group. American support for the group has infuriated Ankara and remains a major issue in their relations.

Turkey considers the PKK and the YPG to be one and the same. The YPG and its affiliated political party have controlled much of northeastern Syria after the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad withdrew in 2012.

All coalition forces, leading with the U.S., have provided these terror groups a serious amount of weapons, vehicles, tools, ammunition and they continue to do so. The U.S. has given them thousands of trucks, Erdogan said.

He warned that Turkey wouldnt need anyones permission to fight terror.

If the U.S. is not fulfilling its duty in combating terror, what will we do? We will take care of ourselves, he declared.

While acknowledging Turkeys security concerns, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price has voiced concerns about Turkeys plans, saying a new offensive could undermine regional stability and put American forces at risk.

Ankara has launched four cross-border operations into Syria since 2016 and controls some territories in the north with the goal of pushing away the YPG and establishing a 30-kilometer (19-mile) deep safe zone where Erdogan hopes to voluntarily return Syrian refugees.

In 2019, an incursion into northeast Syria against the YPG drew widespread international condemnation, prompting Finland, Sweden and others to restrict arms sales to Turkey. Now Turkey is blocking the two Nordic countries historic bid to join NATO because of the weapons ban and their alleged support for the Kurdish groups.

Turkey has stepped up military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, where they are based. The PKK is considered a terror group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

Just as we are conducting operations in northern Iraq against the PKK and PKKs offspring, the same situation applies even more to Syria and is much more important, Erdogan said.

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Erdogan: Turkey's Syria operation could happen 'suddenly' - The Associated Press

Erdogan says he won’t let ‘terrorism-supporting’ countries enter NATO – Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Izmit, Turkey May 23, 2022. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

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ISTANBUL, May 29 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said talks with Finland and Sweden about their joining NATO were not at the "expected level" and Ankara cannot say yes to "terrorism-supporting" countries, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Sunday.

Turkey has objected to Sweden and Finland joining the Western defence alliance, holding up a deal that would allow for a historic enlargement following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Erdogan's latest comments indicated his opposition continued.

"For as long as Tayyip Erdogan is the head of the Republic of Turkey, we definitely cannot say 'yes' to countries which support terrorism entering NATO," he was cited as telling reporters on his return from a trip to Azerbaijan on Saturday.

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Two sources previously told Reuters that Wednesday's talks with Finnish and Swedish delegations made little headway and it was unclear when further discussions would take place. All 30 NATO members must approve plans to enlarge NATO.

Turkey challenged the bids from Sweden and Finland on the grounds that the countries harbour people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and others it deems terrorists, and because they halted arms exports to Ankara in 2019. read more

"They are not honest or sincere. We cannot repeat the mistake made in the past regarding countries that embrace and feed such terrorists in NATO, which is a security organisation," he said.

Sweden and Finland have said they condemn terrorism and welcomed the possibility of coordinating with Ankara.

"Diplomatic efforts are ongoing. We decline to comment further at this moment," Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in an emailed comment to Reuters following Erdogan's latest statement.

Erdogan also said Turkey wanted to see an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible, but that the situation was becoming more negative each day.

"On Monday, I will have phone calls with both Russia and Ukraine. We will continue to encourage the parties to operate channels of dialogue and diplomacy," he said.

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Additional reporting by Simon Johnson in StockholmEditing by Mark Potter and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Erdogan says he won't let 'terrorism-supporting' countries enter NATO - Reuters

How serious is Turkeys Erdogan in denying Finland, Sweden NATO …

WASHINGTON (AP) With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking an increasingly tough line against the NATO membership bids of Finland and Sweden despite far less strident statements from some of his top aides, U.S. officials are trying to determine how serious the often mercurial leader is and what it might take to get him to back down.

Amid the contradictory signals from Ankara over the applications before they were submitted on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Turkish counterpart in New York in a new effort to clarify Ankaras position after previous attempts appear to have only clouded the situation.

WATCH: Finland, Sweden ambassadors discuss the push to join NATO and future of security in Europe

Underscoring the sensitivity of the delicate diplomacy required to deal with a potentially recalcitrant ally, the Biden administration seems to have taken to ignoring Erdogan saying he cannot allow the two nations to join NATO due to their alleged support for groups Turkey sees as security threats. Instead, the administration is focusing on remarks made in closed-door meetings by lower-ranking Turkish officials.

It is not for us to speak for the Turkish government, State Department spokesman Ned Price said repeatedly on Tuesday in response to multiple questions about what the U.S. understands Turkeys position to be and whether Turkey had demanded anything from the United States in return for agreeing to Finlands and Swedens memberships.

At stake for the United States and its NATO partners is an opportunity to respond to Russias invasion of Ukraine by strengthening and expanding the alliance the very opposite of what President Vladimir Putin hoped to achieve in starting the war.

But Erdogans suggestions that he could derail Swedens and Finlands membership hopes also highlight a potential weakness that Putin has tried to exploit in the past the unwieldy nature of the consensus-run alliance where a single member can block actions supported by the other 29.

Initially seen in Washington and other NATO capitals as an easily resolved minor distraction to the process of enlarging the alliance in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Erdogans verbal volleys toward Finland and Sweden are attracting more concern as the two Nordic nations submitted formal applications Wednesday with the hope of joining as quickly as possible.

Even if they are overcome, objections from Turkey, which is the only one of NATOs 30 members to have raised reservations about the expansion so far, could delay Finlands and Swedens accession to the alliance for months, particularly if other nations follow suit in seeking concessions for their votes.

Erdogan, who has grown increasingly authoritarian over the years, is known to be an unpredictable leader and there have been occasions when his words have been at clear odds with what Turkish diplomats or other senior officials in his government have said.

I dont exclude a possible disconnect between Turkish diplomats and Erdogan. In the past there have been examples of such disconnect, said Barcin Yinan, a journalist and commentator on Turkish foreign policy. She said there was a disconnect between Erdogan and the Foreign Ministry last year, when the Turkish leader threatened to expel 10 Western diplomats, including the U.S. ambassador, whom he accused of meddling in Turkeys judiciary.

For instance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Berlin on Sunday after discussions with Turkish officials that Turkey has made it clear that their intention is not to block membership. Meanwhile, Blinken and other foreign ministers, including Germanys top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, expressed absolute confidence that all NATO members, including Turkey, would welcome the two newcomers.

READ MORE: Putin says Finland NATO membership would harm relations

Yet on Monday, Erdogan surprised many by doubling down on his criticism of Finland and Sweden, accusing them of supporting Kurdish militants and others whom Turkey considers to be terrorists and of imposing restrictions on military sales to Turkey.

Neither country has an open, clear stance against terrorist organizations, Erdogan said. We cannot say yes to those who impose sanctions on Turkey, on joining NATO, which is a security organization.

Asked about the disparity, Price, the State Department spokesman, would say only that Blinken, after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavuoglu and others over the weekend, came away with the same sense of confidence that there was strong consensus for admitting Finland and Sweden into the alliance if they choose to join, and were confident well be able to preserve that consensus.

Gonul Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, said that while Erdogan often talks a tough line, he tends to come around in the end and do the rational thing.

Erdogan is unpredictable. But at the same time, hes a very pragmatic actor, she said. Tol said Erdogan likes to negotiate and pushes for maximalist demands during the negotiations. He ends up settling for much less than that, she said.

She noted that Erdogans grievances with Western countries over the Kurds are not new and that strains between Turkey and the United States over military supplies are long-standing.

Having been dropped from the F-35 advanced fighter jet development program after buying a Russian air defense system, Turkey has been pressing the U.S. to sell it new F-16 fighters or at the very least refurbish its existing fleet. Discussions on both issues are taking place in Washington this week and some officials believe that while they are unrelated to the NATO enlargement question, resolutions to either could help persuade Erdogan to drop his objections.

Tol agreed and said: This is happening at a time when hes trying to mend ties with Washington, when Turkey is involved in negotiations to convince Congress to sell F-16s to Turkey. This is a time when Erdogan is trying to burnish his image as a valuable ally. And this is a time when the invasion of Ukraine has given him an opportunity to reach out to Western capitals. So against that background it would be a very dramatic step if Turkey in fact vetoes the application of Finland and Sweden.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

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How serious is Turkeys Erdogan in denying Finland, Sweden NATO ...

Turkey has told allies it’s a ‘no’ to Sweden and Finland’s NATO bid …

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan holds a news conference during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

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ISTANBUL, May 19 (Reuters) - Turkey has told allies that it will reject Sweden and Finland's membership to NATO, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter account on Thursday.

Finland and Sweden formally applied on Wednesday to join U.S.-led NATO, a decision spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey's objections have come as a surprise to the other members of the alliance. read more

"We will continue our policy in a determined way. We have told allies that we will say no to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership," Erdogan said in an interview with students late on Wednesday.

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The Turkish president said Sweden and Finland harbour and finance "terrorists" and supply them with weapons, repeating Ankara's accusation that the countries supports groups that it deems terrorists, namely the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and Syrian Kurdish YPG, which it also views as a terrorist group closely tied to the PKK.

"NATO is a security alliance and we cannot accept terrorists to be in it," Erdogan also said.

(This story refiles to remove extraneous question mark in third paragraph)

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Reporting by Ezgi ErkoyunEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Turkey has told allies it's a 'no' to Sweden and Finland's NATO bid ...