US, Turkey Pledge to Improve Ties amid S-400 Crisis
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On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, US and Turkey emphasize the importance of maintaining constructive relations, expanding areas of cooperation, and managing differences between the two countries.
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US Official: Biden endorsed finding an effective way to manage disagreements with Turkey
US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Sunday to improve bilateral ties, following a particularly tense period between Washington and Ankara.
Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, the two leaders "had a very constructive conversation" in which Biden "made clear his desire to have constructive relations with Turkey and to find an effective way to manage our disagreements," a senior US administration official said.
According to the Turkish presidency, "the meeting took place in a positive atmosphere," and the presidents "expressed their joint commitment to further strengthening Turkey-US relations and agreed to establish a joint mechanism to that effect."
They also "stressed the importance of the NATO alliance," the Turkish presidency said.
Turkey's 2019 purchase of a Russian S-400 air defense system has been an irritant on ties, prompting Washington to block Ankara's plans to buy about 100 next-generation US F-35 planes.
Erdogan has insisted on compensation, saying Washington could pay back at least part of the $1.4 billion advance payment that Turkey made for the F-35s through the delivery of older-generation F-16 fighter jets.
Earlier this month, Erdogan had threatened to expel 10 Western ambassadors, including the US Ambassador, over their support for a jailed Turkish activist.
According to the White House, Biden used the meeting to also raise the issue of human rights and discuss a "full range of foreign policy topics," including Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the South Caucasus region, as well as climate change.
