Turkish Interior Minister: US hated by whole world, Europe is US pawn
3 Min Read
The comments by Turkey's Interior Minister follow increasing anti-US sentiments across Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's criticism of US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake, noting that a diplomat such as him “should know his place.”
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Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 21, 2019. (Reuters)
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, a known critic of the US who has previously accused it of orchestrating the 2016 military coup attempt, claimed that the "whole world hates America".
Soylu added that confidence in the US is waning as a result of its uncontrollable foreign policy. On a related note, he called Europe an American pawn in Africa, which hates nations that abuse it.
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Soylu continued to undermine Europe's importance and asserted that it follows US orders rather than its own. “There is America. Europe is a train in America’s column. There is nothing special...”
Turkey to US: 'Know your place'
This follows recent anti-US sentiments across Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's criticism of US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake, noting that a diplomat such as him “should know his place.”
"[US President] Joe Biden's ambassador visits Kemal. Shame on you, think with your head. You are an ambassador. Your interlocutor here is the president. How will you stand up after that and ask for a rendezvous with the president? Our doors are closed for him, he can no longer come in. Why? He needs to know his place," Erdogan said this month after Flake visited Erdogan's rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
This also comes amid preparations for the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for May 14. CHP leader, Kilicdaroglu, is Erdogan’s main rival and designated candidate for five other alliances.
Back in February, Soylu publicly condemned the US ambassador, telling him to take his “dirty hands off Turkey", adding, "Every US ambassador asks themselves how they can harm Turkey. It has been one of Turkey’s greatest misfortunes for years. They gather other ambassadors and try to give them advice. They do the same in Europe as US embassies run Europe,"
Around that time as well, Ankara summoned the ambassadors of Western countries, including the US, to criticize their decision to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts following the recent burnings of the holy Quran in Europe.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced Western countries' attempts to try to make Turkey look unstable or give the impression that there is a terrorist threat in the country.
