Calling for stronger ties with the United States, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview broadcast on Wednesday said the Obama administration had deceived Turkey over cooperation against the PKK, which Turkey, the US and EU list as a terrorist organisation.
Erdogan made the comments in an interview with Al Jazeera. “With President Obama, we had a mutual agreement regarding the PKK – but Obama deceived us. I don’t believe the Trump administration will do the same.”
“The way President Trump is approaching matters is encouraging, makes us happy,” Erdogan added.
Erdogan said Obama had failed to abide by an agreement between the NATO members to fight against terror organisations.
The US supports the YPG in Syria. The YPG is the armed wing of the PYD, a Syrian affiliate of the PKK.
“The YPG is an arm of the PKK. We must put an end to this,” the Turkish president said.
“We can’t destroy one terrorist group with another one. We are strategic partners with the US.”
Erdogan said on Thursday he will meet his US counterpart on May 16-17.
Trump called Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him on the referendum, in which Turkish citizens voted for amendments to the country’s constitution, changing the system of governance from a parliamentary to a presidential system.
“The most important point we discussed was about developments in Syria and Iraq. We plan to meet in May, and we will discuss things further face-to-face,” Erdogan said of the phone call.
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