Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that his meeting with his US counterpart Joe Biden in Brussels was “positive”, and that he had invited him to visit Turkey.
This came during a press conference in Brussels after his participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit , where Erdogan touched on issues related to the alliance and the bilateral meetings he held on the sidelines of the summit.
President Erdoğan stressed that “NATO must play an active role wherever the Alliance’s security umbrella is needed, from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea and from Europe to Asia.”
“We have decided to take steps that will enhance the political dimension of NATO while making it militarily stronger,” he added.
And he added: “From now on, we hope that all our allies will leave aside narrow political calculations and show full solidarity with Turkey.”
Erdogan went on to say, “In my speech at the summit and bilateral meetings, I clearly emphasized the need to end the support provided to the PKK terrorist organization.”
And he regretted the persistence of “the perverted concept that distinguishes between terrorist organizations and classifies them on the basis of good and bad terrorist.”
Regarding his meeting with Biden, President Erdogan said: “We agreed to use direct channels of dialogue in an effective and regular manner, in a manner befitting the two allies and strategic partners.”
“We discussed the approach of building cooperation opportunities in areas of common interests,” he added.
Erdogan added: “The meeting with Biden was positive in terms of continuing relations, and when I invited him to visit Turkey, he confirmed that he might come.”
He pointed out that there is no intractable issue in Turkish-American relations, and that the areas of cooperation between the two countries are broader and richer than contentious issues.
He indicated that he assured Biden the firmness of Turkey’s position on the “S-400” system and the “F-35” fighters.
President Erdogan touched on Turkey’s counter-terrorism operations.
He said: “We have cleared more than 8,200 km of terrorism thanks to our operations outside the borders.”
And he added: “A major flaw is that the terrorists who have been handed over to their countries are able to move freely without any investigation being conducted with them.”
Regarding his meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Turkish president quoted Macron as saying, “It is out of the question that I am against Islam. I say this to you as a friend.”
Regarding his talks with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he confirmed that the meeting was good, adding: “I called on him not to involve a third party, whether in the Aegean file or other regions.”
And he added: “We agreed to conduct our discussions through our own channels when necessary, and that there is no need to involve a third party between us.”
Erdogan also touched on the Afghanistan file and the process of NATO withdrawal from it.
He pointed out that he informed Biden of Ankara’s vision regarding the use of Pakistan and Hungary, along with Turkey, to secure Kabul Airport.
