On February 19, the US State Department issued a written statement on the relations between Turkey and the US.
“Turkey and the United States are NATO allies and long-term partners. We have a proud history of working together in crises and on issues of regional security and prosperity.
Turkey is an important security partner of the US and has been a valued NATO ally since 1952. Turkey serves as NATO’s critical eastern anchor on the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, which connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Turkey shares borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria and is a key partner in the surrounding region. The United States and Turkey are working closely together to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean by international law, and to establish peace in the Balkans and the South Caucasus,” the US State Department said in a statement.
From time to time, relations between Turkey and the USA are strained over several issues: due to the purchase of Russian S-400 systems, the US refuses to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets and modernize the existing fighters. There are several disagreements between the parties in the Balkans, Turkey accuses the USA of providing support to terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the country. And the USA is not satisfied with Turkey’s alleged neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian war and not imposing sanctions against Russia, as well as with Turkey’s tough position regarding Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.
Recently, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that every US ambassador to Turkey is thinking about how to harm the country and organize a coup, and called on the US to “pull its dirty hands off Turkey”.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to realize that Turkey is the most important security ally of the US and the eastern front against Russia. Turkey and the USA are connected by many common interests, which ultimately forces them to make mutually beneficial concessions. Therefore, the rumors about Turkey’s withdrawal from NATO shortly have little to do with reality.
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