Erdogan hopes to meet Pita in Glasgow

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has abandoned the expulsion of ten Western diplomats, including the United States, said on Wednesday that he hoped to meet with US President Joe Biden in Glasgow next week.

Despite being part of the Atlantic Alliance, relations between the two leaders have been strained since Ankara took over the Russian defense establishment.

“It looks like we will meet in Glasgow rather than in Rome,” Erdogan told Turkish reporters on the flight that picked him up from Azerbaijan.

The Turkish president is preparing to attend two major international meetings over the weekend, with the summit of the 20 most industrialized nations (G20) starting in Rome on Saturday, followed by the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UK) in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday. “The schedule in Rome and Glasgow seems to have changed,” he said, looking forward to a bilateral meeting with the G20 leader at the White House.

The two leaders saw each other during the annual NATO summit in June. On the other hand, Mr. As Biden expected at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, Mr. Did not receive Erdogan. To expel ten Western ambassadors to the United States, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. Erdogan abandoned the militancy on Monday. Ten diplomats rallied on October 18 in support of host and businessman Osman Qawala, who was jailed for four years without trial, demanding a “fair and speedy settlement” in the matter. According to the Turkish head of state, it was an “indecent” attempt and “a great insult”.

Mr. Erdogan dropped the US embassy statement and was taken over by other protagonists, promising to respect the terms of the Vienna Convention that shapes diplomatic relations and not to interfere in the internal affairs of host countries. “The first press release came from the United States. The case was closed,” he confirmed Wednesday.

According to observers, the movement of this mood to “make a turn” was important, Turkey is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, inflation is approaching 20% ​​and the currency is falling 25%. Year against the dollar.

Ankara clashes with Washington over Russian S-400 missiles, but contracts for US F-35 fighter jets have not been paid by Turkey ($ 1.4 billion). Mr. Erdogan expects compensation for the supply of spare parts for F-16 fighter jets. A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, announced Wednesday that US Defense Department representatives had traveled to Ankara to “resolve the dispute” over the F-35.

While emphasizing that the exclusion of Ankara from the production plan of this sophisticated piracy aircraft was “completed on September 23”, the spokesman said in a statement that the discussions would be “productive” and that delegates would meet. Back in Washington in the coming months.