Erdogan will meet with Biden at the NATO summit, asking for more than just empty words
The latest meeting between Erdogan and Biden, after months of disagreements between Ankara and Washington, took place last October in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 summit, AFP reported.
Referring to Ankara’s statement, AFP and Reuters reported on this today. The meeting was confirmed by the White House. The statesmen will meet today or Wednesday.
“We want results, not empty words,” Erdogan told reporters before departing for the summit.
In Madrid, he will also hold talks with the alliance’s leadership and the leaders of Sweden and Finland.
“We have been in NATO for 70 years and we are not members just by chance,” he added.
“If Sweden and Finland are to become members of NATO, they must take into account Turkey’s concerns, otherwise it is not possible,” Erdogan reiterated.
Ankara has reservations about the Nordic countries’ application to join NATO, saying they support Kurdish terrorist groups and block arms exports to Turkey.
But Erdogan’s government also calls its critics terrorists, and Kurds face repression in the country under Erdogan’s regime.
Two Scandinavian countries applied to join the defense alliance after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Ankara originally ordered 100 F-35 fighters manufactured by Lockheed Martin. But the U.S. sidelined Turkey from the program in 2019 for purchasing Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile defense system.
Turkey wants the U.S. to replace 40 new F-16 fighters and modernize the machines it already has in service.
