Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused US President Joe Biden and his administration of complicity in atrocities during Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and lashed out at the US and other NATO allies who he said “fueled the fire” of the war in Ukraine, Miami Herald reports.
Erdogan made his comments, which were among the harshest criticisms of the Biden administration over the conflicts, in response to written questions from Newsweek as he arrived in Washington to attend a NATO summit at a watershed moment for the international order.
Erdogan, who has led Turkey for more than two decades and is considered the most powerful leader since founding father Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, is in a unique geographic and geopolitical position among fellow NATO leaders. Not only is Turkey the second-largest army in the US-led alliance, but it also sits on the border of Europe and Asia, away from the two major conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza.
But while the Biden administration has sought NATO unity in trying to secure Russia’s defeat in Ukraine and has given strong support to Israel’s offensive against Hamas and a coalition of Iran-linked forces across the region, Erdogan takes a different view. He accuses Western allies of fanning the flames of war in Ukraine and Biden in particular of complicity in human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip.
The exclusive comments came as Erdogan increasingly seeks to diversify Turkey’s international ties by forging closer relations with emerging blocs in the East. And while the Turkish leader reiterates his commitment to further developing relations with Washington, he has signalled that Ankara’s concerns can no longer be ignored.
Erdogan said in a media interview that Turkey is an important member of NATO and actively participates in the alliance’s operations and missions. Our main goals are to strengthen solidarity with NATO allies and to find sustainable common sense solutions to the challenges facing the world and our region. In a changing world, new challenges arise every day. That is why we believe that NATO must be ready, determined and strong. As we constantly emphasise at NATO meetings, terrorism is one of the most pressing global challenges. We are a country that has taken on the mission of fighting terrorist organisations without discrimination and is actively demonstrating this in practice. Our main expectation from allies is that they will adopt a similar approach to fighting terrorism.
The Turkish leader added:
Unfortunately, we have not received the expected level of support and solidarity from our allies thus far. We cannot tolerate this situation, nor is it consistent with the spirit of alliance, for the ringleaders of terrorist organizations that pose a threat to Türkiye’s national security to be accepted as legitimate actors. We take a holistic approach to these and similar security risks, providing sustainable solutions that serve not only our own security but also that of our allies. We do not commit the error of concentrating on a single issue while disregarding others. We believe that it would be better to adopt a principled approach to the problems in our region and the world rather than one based on subjective and short-term interests.
Answering a question about the Ukrainian conflict, Erdogan said that Turkey would under no circumstances take part in military actions. He stressed that Turkey’s position on this issue was exclusively in favour of peace.
Commenting on his relations with President Biden, Erdogan said that he and the American president have different views on human rights. The Turkish president said:
We believe that the brutal murder of innocent people by Israel in hospitals where they go for treatment, in ambulances, in marketplaces, in centers where humanitarian aid is distributed, and in areas defined as safe is the gravest violation of human rights. The US administration, however, disregards these violations and provides Israel with the most support. They do so at the expense of being complicit in these violations. The fight against terrorism is another issue of concern. We are a NATO country. The threat to our national security is a threat to all NATO countries, especially the US.
The Turkish leader said he maintains sincerity in relations with Mr Biden and cares about developing their friendship. Erdogan emphasised:
We are, after all, two allied countries. We have developed a relationship with Mr. Biden in conjunction with the issues that we concur and disagree on between our countries.
