In an interview Wednesday with Anadolu, the Turkish news agency, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that while his government was seeking a solution with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies on Syria, Turkey had to increase defense cooperation with other countries, as the alliance had let Turkey down.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to restore cooperation with Turkey to the “pre-crisis” level speaking after talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in St.Petersburg on Tuesday (August 9).
A previous uptick in relations between Turkey and Russian Federation was built on a macho friendship between Putin and Erdogan, two combative leaders in their early 60s credited with restoring confidence to their nations in the wake of financial crises but also criticised for clampdowns on human rights.
On Syria, he acknowledged that the two countries held different views but said they shared the same goal.
“Their issue is anti-Turkey and anti-Erdogan sentiment”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
She said that Washington expects Turkish officials to be responsible while issuing statements about friendly nations, adding that any extradition of Gulen would be “a legal, technical process… governed by the 1981 extradition treaty signed by both of our countries”.
Cavusoglu said: “We (Turkey) especially don’t want attacks that harm civilians”. “We agreed to find a resolution together with foreign ministries and intelligence services…”
He insisted it would take “painstaking work” and “some time” to return to previous trade levels as Russian Federation rolls back punishing economic sanctions against Ankara, but both sides said they wanted to restart major energy projects hit by the crisis.
Turkey is pressing the United States to extradite USA -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of orchestrating the coup attempt, and has expressed frustration at its slow response. However, the US says it still is reviewing the request.
Turkish soldiers surrender to policemen during an attempted coup in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, Turkey, on July 16. President Barack Obama’s administration has strongly denied that. Ankara has accused the West of failing to show due support for a democratically elected government.
While Erdogan was in Moscow, Ankara announced that a key agreement with the European Union to disrupt the refugee flow from Syria would be come to an end if Brussels did not provide a deadline of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe.
Turkey’s president cozied up to his “dear friend” Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a visit meant to send a message to his allies in the West, whom he blames for what he considers a lack of support after a failed coup.
“We have always regarded our relations with Russian Federation as complementary not as an alternative (to the West)”, Cavusoglu said.
An expert claims that the visit of Erdogan to Saint Petersburg will send strong message to the West meaning as “Ankara has options”.
“The region has expectations of us politically”.
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Turkey-Russia relations were severed past year after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet as it violated Turkish airspace.
