WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2020) The chairman and ranking Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee urged other NATO nations to join the US in demanding that Turkey halt actions that damage the Western alliance in a press release.
"While we continue to see real value in a strong US-Turkey relationship, its destabilizing actions need to be more strongly addressed and the United States must work with its European and NATO allies and partners to continue to use all of the tools at their disposal to demand that Turkey reverse course," Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel and ranking Republican Michael McCaul said on Wednesday.
The congressmen also urged Turkey President Recep Erdogan to end his nation's "provocative behavior" so Washington and Ankara can re-establish a cooperative relation based on mutual security interests and democratic values.
The release listed a number of steps by Turkey that the lawmakers said had damaged the alliance, including the nation's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air and missile defense system, offshore energy explanation in Mediterranean waters claimed by fellow NATO member Greece and Ankara's military operations in Syria.
The release also accused Erdogan of undermining democratic institutions, including judicial independence, a rollback of democratic rights and recent efforts to target locally employed staff at US diplomatic outposts with what the lawmakers called baseless criminal charges.
