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The US secretary of state took advantage of his recent NATO meeting this week to harbor strong criticism of Turkey, saying that “the purchase of a Russian weapons system” is a gift “to Moscow.”
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United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Five diplomats and officials said that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took advantage of his last NATO meeting this week to receive harsh criticism of Turkey, saying that the purchase of a Russian weapons system was a “gift” to Moscow. .
Diplomats and officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the talks, said Pompeo said during Tuesday’s closed-circuit television meeting that “Turkey undermines NATO security and creates instability in the eastern Mediterranean in a conflict with Greece and Cyprus, the non-member state “. With an alliance for gas resources. “
Pompeo told his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşolu, that “Turkey made a mistake by sending Syrian fighters to Libya in exchange for money,” the US Defense Department concluded in a July report, and also on the conflict. in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Diplomats said Pompeo’s speech brought other allies at the meeting, including France, Greece and even tiny Luxembourg, to twoThe Turkish government has also led Javişolu to “press charges characterized by counter-accusations.” Challenge. “
The tone of the conversation at the meeting was described as “measured” but “more confrontational” than is the norm in NATO meetings.
One diplomat quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as saying that the unity of the alliance “is not possible if an ally imitates Russian actions.”
A US official, speaking in the background, said there was “a frank discussion behind closed doors” but declined to go into details.
“The United States has repeatedly urged Turkey to solve the S-400 (Russian weapons system) problem, stop using Syrian fighters in foreign conflicts and stop provocative actions in the eastern Mediterranean,” the official added.
On Thursday, the Turkish foreign minister said he could not comment on a secret meeting, adding: “The differences between the two countries and the pending issues have just been clarified … We had to buy (weapons system) from Russia because we could not do it. to our allies.
Turkish sources with knowledge of the meeting said Pompeo made “unfair accusations” and that there was no united front against Turkey.
He said Turkey has also shown willingness to hold talks with Greece on the eastern Mediterranean without preconditions.
There are old differences between the two NATO members over Turkey’s military intervention in Syria and Libya, but Pompeo’s statements highlight the depth of tension in the Western alliance, which many experts say is severely weakening it.
European Union leaders will consider imposing sanctions on Turkey, which is home to US nuclear warheads, over the gas conflict in the eastern Mediterranean on December 10.
Pompeo will reportedly step down in January, when the term of US President Donald Trump expires.
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