Turkey to open new page of dialogue with EU, US in 2021

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Wednesday that his country would open a new page of dialogue with EU countries and the US, Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking to Justice and Development Party lawmakers, Erdoğan confirmed: “Turkey has no luxury of turning its back on either the West or the East. While maintaining good ties with the US and Europe, we cannot ignore Africa and Asia.”

He noted that Turkey does not see an alternative to its deeply-rooted multilateral political, economic and military cooperation with the US.

“We had a challenging year in terms of our ties with the US and Europe despite our efforts. I hope the European Union will get rid of its strategic blindness,” Erdoğan expressed.

He affirmed that he is expecting US President-elect Joe Biden to allocate the necessary importance to US-Turkish relations.

Erdoğan noted that Turkey is facing double standards regarding the Eastern Mediterranean issue and the Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems.

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“We will continue to work with all of our friends who have accepted our hand,” he remarked, noting that Ankara is more than willing to find common ground to resolve issues.

Last week, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), its chief Ismail Demir and three other officials to penalise Turkey for its purchase of the Russian S-400s.

Commenting on the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s call to release  jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, Erdoğan asserted that the ECHR was acting on behalf of a “terrorist”.

“The discussion concerns a person wearing a politician’s mask who is intimate with the PKK and has the blood of tens of people on his hands,” Reuters reported him stating, stressing that the ECHR could not pass judgment in place of Turkish courts.

“If the ECHR wants to be respected by Turkey, its needs to question its own contradictions,” Erdoğan urged, referring to ECHR’s ruling relating to Spain in 2009.