Türkiye urges US to lift sanctions in defense industry field

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and the US is increasingly continuing, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday, urging to lift sanctions against Ankara in the defense industry field.

In a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu said finalizing the F-16 fighter jet sale deal is beneficial for both sides.

He noted that the fight against terrorism is a priority item on the mutual agenda, and further urged to have more effective cooperation and collaboration in the field of security.

Asked about Türkiye's position on the US support to YPG/PKK terrorist organization in Syria, Cavusoglu said Türkiye believes that cooperating with terror groups against another one is a "deadly mistake" and that the PKK/YPG terror group is not fighting the Daesh/ISIS terror group.

Cavusoglu called on his US counterpart to fight against any kind of terrorism and terror group together.

Citing the October 2019 deal signed between Ankara and Washington, Cavusoglu said the US must fulfill its responsibilities arising from the deal.

Ankara and Washington reached a deal in October 2019 to pause Türkiye's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria for 120 hours to allow the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from a planned safe zone, but Türkiye said the US did not fulfill its promises.

Asked about bilateral ties, Cavusoglu said the two countries should not wait for another disaster to improve ties and urged to take concrete and sincere steps to improve the Türkiye-US relations.

For his part, Blinken expressed his country's commitment to providing support to earthquake-hit Türkiye.

"We stand side by side in confronting common security challenges," Blinken said as he hailed Türkiye's role in supporting Ukraine.

On the F-16 deal, Blinken said it is the "national interest and security interest" for the Biden administration to both upgrade existing F-16s and provide new ones to Türkiye.

Blinken also responded to the question on the US support to the terrorist YPG/PKK in Syria and said his country "very much recognizes" Türkiye's legitimate security concerns on its southern border.

"We will continue to work closely together to address both of those concerns. In the immediate moment, of course, we're both very much focused on humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria, who, like the people of Turkey, has suffered terribly from the earthquake and we're working together to maximize the support that can get to them," he said.