Photo: AA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed the ambassadors of 10 countries, including the US, Germany and France, who had called for the release of Osman Kavala, who has been remanded in custody for four years on "terrorism" charges.
"Why do these 10 ambassadors make this statement? Those who defend this leftover of [George] Soros are striving to get him released," he told reporters today (October 21), following his trip to Africa.
"I told our foreign minister that we can't have the luxury to host those in our country," he remarked. "Is it your place to teach lessons to Turkey? Who are you?"
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On October 18, the fourth anniversary of Kavala's imprisonment, the 10 embassies released a joint statement, calling on Turkey to comply with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision for his release.
A day later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors.
"The ECtHR gave a decision. They want to convict Turkey regarding this Soros leftover," Erdoğan remarked. "Do you release bandits, killers or terrorists in your country?"
Also touching on the situation of Selahattin Demirtaş, a Kurdish politician who has also been kept in prison despite ECtHR rulings, the president said, "And now, the HDP [Peoples' Democratic Party] is striving to get Selahattin Demirtaş released. The guy is a terrorist."
The payment for the F-35s
Turkey is determined to get back the 1.4 billion billion dollars the US "owes us" over F-35 jets Turkey paid for but were not delivered because of its purchase of the S-400 missile systems from Russia, Erdoğan also said.
"We will get back the 1.4 billion dollars in one way or another," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters late Wednesday on the plane returning from a trip to Africa, adding that Turkey's defense minister and US defense secretary have been discussing the issue.
Saying he believed positive steps would be taken, he said the issue would be discussed with US President Joe Biden during this weekend's G20 meeting in Rome. "In no way will we let anyone abuse Turkey's rights," he added.
In 2017, when its protracted efforts to buy the Patriot air defense system from the US proved fruitless, Turkey signed a contract with Russia to acquire its S-400 defense system.
Turkey and the F-35 programTurkey had been in the F-35 program since 1999 and its defense industry had taken part in the production of the planes. The parts manufactured by Alp Aeıspace, AYESAŞ, Kale Aerospace, Kale Pratt & Whitney and the Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ) have been on all F-35 planes since the first one. Turkey was given the ownership of four F-35 planes in 2018. Pilots from Turkey attended training programs in the US. Later, the ownership of two more planes was given to Turkey but none of them have been delivered to the country due to its purchase of the S-400 missile systems from Russia. Turkey signed the S-400 agreement with Russia in April 2017 and received the first batch of equipment in July 2019, after which the US announced Turkey's suspension from the F-35 program. Previously, the US announced in April 2019 that it suspended the delivery of equipment associated with the F-35 project to Turkey. At the end of July 2019, Turkey's pilots trained for the F-25 program returned to the country. In late 2019, then US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Turkey must choose between the F-35s and the S-400s. As part of its 2020 defense budget, the US decided to buy the six planes owned by Turkey. The US found new supplies for the 1,005 different parts that were produced by Turkey-based companies. Turkey confirmed in October 2020 that it tested the S-400 systems but hasn't activated them yet. In December, the US announced sanctions on Turkey's arms purchasing agency. |
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