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POOL from Reuters
Reuters quoted diplomatic sources as saying that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had harshly criticized Turkey during the last NATO ministerial meeting for the purchase of the Russian “S-400” missiles.
Diplomats and officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidentiality of the talks, said Pompeo said during Tuesday’s closed-circuit television meeting that Turkey was undermining NATO security and causing instability in the eastern Mediterranean over their dispute. with Greece and Cyprus for gas resources.
Diplomats said Pompeo’s speech prompted other allies at the meeting, including France, Greece and Luxembourg, to criticize Turkey.
She described the tone of the conversation at the meeting as “measured”, but it was marked by a more violent confrontation than usual in NATO meetings.
“The United States has repeatedly urged Turkey to resolve the” S-400 “problem, to stop using Syrian fighters in foreign conflicts and to stop provocative actions in the eastern Mediterranean, an official said.
“Reuters” quoted Turkish sources with knowledge of what happened at the meeting, that Pompeo made “unfair accusations” and that there was no united front against Turkey.
He said that Turkey had expressed its willingness to hold talks with Greece without preconditions.
On the differences between Ankara and Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that he could not comment on a secret meeting.
He added at a public event: “The differences between the two countries and the pending issues were simply clarified … We had to buy the S-400 from Russia because we couldn’t do that with our allies.”
Source: Reuters
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