U.S.-Turkey partnership not reflected in their relations

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Although Ankara and Washington are taking steps to normalize ties between the two countries, the achievement of practical results may need some time.

Declared principles of partnership between the U.S. and Turkey, in fact, do not manifest themselves in the relations between the two countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Turkish media outlets reported on October 19.

He noted that the U.S. by its actions against Turkey, in fact, goes beyond cooperation.

Commenting on the recent aggravation of relations between the two countries, Erdogan said that the lack of progress in resolving this crisis is a serious problem.

The U.S. special delegation arrived in Turkey on October 17 in an effort to resolve the crisis between the two countries which erupted following the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul.

The U.S. State Department delegation will return to Washington after the talks in Ankara and inform the leadership of the country about Turkey's position.

As part of the negotiations aimed at normalizing Ankara-Washington ties, the U.S. delegation put forward a number of conditions.

One of the conditions is to present evidence that the previously arrested U.S. consular officer in Turkey had links with Fethullah Gulen movement, as Turkish authorities claim.

Moreover, Turkey should provide the U.S. with full information about the progress of the investigation.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the conditions of the U.S. delegation.

The U.S. and Turkey previously suspended the mutual issuance of non-immigrant visas. Non-immigrant visas are issued to people who travel for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.

This decision followed the October 4 arrest of a Turkish national who works at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul for alleged involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt aimed to overthrow the Turkish president. The U.S. embassy stated earlier that it was “deeply disturbed” over the arrest and rejected the allegations against the employee as “wholly without merit”.

Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in New York, where Trump praised Erdogan as a friend despite tensions in two countries’ relations over a number of issues.

This latest incident aggravated the already tense relationship between Washington and Ankara. The two countries have clashed over the U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria as well as Turkish demands that the United States extradite Fethullah Gülen, a cleric whom Ankara blames for a military coup attempt of last July.

In addition, Ankara’s rapprochement with Russia and purchase of S-400 missiles become the subject of criticism by the U.S.