ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) Turkey expects to have a fresh start in relations with the United States once projected president-elect Joe Biden comes to power, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.
With the official results of the November 3 election yet to be announced, all major US media outlets have called the race for Democrat Biden. On Monday evening, incumbent Donald Trump announced that he had instructed his team to start the transition, but did not concede his defeat and vowed to keep strongly fighting alleged voter fraud.
"The election was held in the United States. We will make every effort to return to a positive atmosphere in our relations in the strategic interests of both countries. During this period, it is important for us to open a new page in our relationship ... Relations between our parliament and the congress and parliamentary diplomacy will be of particular importance," Cavusoglu told a meeting of the national parliament budget commission.
He however listed what he considers to be the key thorny issues between Ankara and Washington.
"The US has failed to curb the activities of FETO [opposition Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement, which Ankara designates as a terror organization], terminate cooperation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party / the Self-Defense Forces and refrain from the language of sanctions and threats," the minister said.
Another source of discord is Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems. By making contingent the resumption of Ankara's participation in the F-35 fighter jet program on the country abandoning the Russian-made weapons, the US is harming relations with Turkey in the defense sector, the top diplomat added.
