US-Turkey relations: Jitters grow as Pompeo, Cavusoglu tangle over accounts of meeting

US-Turkey relations: Jitters grow as Pompeo, Cavusoglu tangle over accounts of meeting
Cavusoglu (left) is at loggerheads with counterpart Pompeo (the two are pictured meeting in June 2018). / US State Dept.
By bne IntelliNews April 5, 2019

Market nervousness grew over how tensed relations between Ankara and Washington are set to play out when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late on April 4 denied that the US had misrepresented or fabricated details about a meeting he held two days previously with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"Stand by every word of it," Pompeo was reported as saying by CNN in a direct rebuttal to Turkey's claim that a US statement on the meeting "not only fails to reflect the content of the meeting, but also contains matters that were not even raised during the said meeting".

The disharmony in relations between Turkey and the US remains multifaceted but is not—at least not yet—as deep as it was last August when some aggressive tweeting and tariff and sanctions actions from Donald Trump were a big factor in triggering the worst of Turkey’s currency crisis. But the fresh outbreak of tensions comes at a time when recession-hit Turks are on edge as they await whether the Erdogan administration will tolerate the municipal election results that saw it lose five out of the six largest Turkish cities, including Ankara and Istanbul. Another Turkish lira depreciation bout seen before and after the voting has also weighed on sentiment.

Also darkening the picture is the unresolved row over Turkey, despite being a Nato member, refusing to back down from buying Russia’s S-400 advanced missile defence system, which Washington sees as a security threat to the performance data of the F-35 stealth jet fighter—which, US officials have warned, Turkey won’t get its hands on if it sticks with plans to deploy the S-400.

Syria, detained US citizens also among points of contention
Demonstrating just how many points of contention there are right now between Washington and Ankara, the US State Department said that, during his meeting with Cavusoglu, Pompeo warned against unilateral Turkish military action in Syria, called for the "swift resolution of cases involving unjustly detained US citizens," including local staff from the US consulate in Istanbul, and raised his concerns about Turkey’s planned acquisition of the $2.5bn S-400 surface-to-air missile system.

Cavusoglu is in the US partly to attend events commemorating the 70th anniversary of Nato. Worries that Turkey could be poised to move more into Moscow’s orbit won’t be assuaged by the fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—at what’s coming to be seen as a critical moment for him after 17 years leading his country with seeming invincibility—is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 8 in Moscow.

Erdogan remains defiant over the S-400 purchase. On April 5, he once again stated that the US had failed to offer Turkey its alternative Patriot missile defence system at an acceptable price. 

“The S-400 holds an important place in our talks. The United States’ arguments are very wrong. We finished the S-400 process and our payments continue,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul when asked about his planned talks at the Kremlin, Reuters reported.

"Really surprised"
Cavusoglu said on April 4 that he was “really surprised” by the US readout of his meeting with Pompeo, which he said had been prepared ahead of their meeting. “Whether you look at the tone of the statement or the sentences it claimed Pompeo told us, we see it doesn’t reflect the truth,” Cavusoglu said, taking issue with the veracity of references to Syria and the detained US consular staff.

“Our alliance naturally requires that such statements are prepared with greater care, while avoiding to include matters that were not raised during meetings,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy commented.

Speaking at the close of a meeting of the 29-member trans-atlantic Nato alliance, Pompeo said: "I reread, I saw the comments by my Turkish counterpart. I reread the readout of our meeting. Spot on. Stand by every word of it."

"I think the Turkish government understands the American position quite clearly," Pompeo added. "I think I heard the vice president [Mike Pence] speak to that yesterday as well. Our position hasn't changed. There's great opportunity for the United States and Turkey to work closely together, and I had a good, long conversation with my, with the Turkish foreign minister yesterday and I'm very confident we'll find a path forward."

On April 3, Vice President Pence warned Turkey against going ahead with the purchase of the Russia missile system, hours after Cavusoglu reiterated that the acquisition was "a done deal" and that Turkey would not back down.

Speaking at the Nato Engages summit in Washington, Pence reportedly said the weapons purchase could "threaten the very cohesion of this alliance".

US officials have long cautioned Turkey that it would not be allowed to acquire the F-35 jet if it goes ahead with a purchase and deployment of the S-400. 

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