‘We have begun to feel the winds of the Cold War again,’ says Turkey’s foreign minister
Photo: AA-NewYork /USA
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Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is in New York for official meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"We want to resolve issues with the US," said Çavuşoğlu yesterday (May 17), in a meeting in "Türkevi" in New York.
Çavuşoğlu recalled the meeting between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his US counterpart Joe Biden in Rome, Italy on October 21, 2021, saying, "The meeting held between our president and Biden was a very important meeting. We have established a strategic mechanism upon Mr. Biden's proposal."
"The goal of this mechanism is to resolve the issues on which Turkiye and the US do not fully agree or to find ways on how we can work together on these issues " he stated.
"Our bilateral trade [with the USA] exceeded $27 billion last year, and we target 100 billion dollars. On the other hand, in which issues we can cooperate, we will also talk about as part of this mechanism"
Signal of a meeting between presidents
Çavuşoğlu also signaled that a new meeting between Erdoğan and Biden could take place in 2022.
"We hope to hold a meeting at the level of presidents within this year. I hope we can improve our cooperation."
Russia-Ukraine War
Addressing Turkey's role as a mediator in Russia-Ukraine War, which enters its 84th day, Çavuşoğlu said:
"This is not an easy process. We tried very hard to solve it at the beginning, and if it was solved that time, things could have been easier but every day the situation becomes more and more difficult. "
"Unfortunately, the war in eastern Ukraine continues. We have begun to feel the wind of the Cold War again."
"Of course, there will be a ceasefire someday, but it seems like the Cold War will last longer. Turkey must continue to pursue a rational, balanced and strategic foreign policy."
Meeting with Blinken
The Foreign Ministry of Turkey issued a written statement about Çavuşoğlu's visit to the US on the ministry's website:
"H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, will pay an official visit to New York – U.S. on 16-19 May 2022 to attend the first-ever International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) within the margins of the UN General Assembly."
"During the visit, H.E. Minister Çavuşoğlu will also attend the "Global Food Security Call to Action" Ministerial Meeting, which will be held in New York at the UN Headquarters on 18 May 2022, hosted by H.E. Mr. Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, and will hold bilateral meetings."
"H.E. Minister Çavuşoğlu will hold the first Foreign Ministers-level meeting of the Türkiye-U.S. Strategic Mechanism with H.E. Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, and will meet the members of the Turkish-American community in New York as well."
On the other hand, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price announced that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met in Washington with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal on May 16.
In the statement, it was written that "Deputy Secretary Sherman thanked Deputy Foreign Minister Onal for Turkey's strong and vocal support of Ukraine and discussed the need for solidarity among NATO Allies and partners in confronting Russia's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine and in imposing real costs on Putin and his cronies."(SD/TB)