THE US and Turkey have pulled back from the brink of a potentially disastrous crisis, agreeing to normalise strained relations over Syria and other issues that had threatened the Nato allies’
long-standing ties.
Details of the rapprochement were vague as the two sides agreed in principle only to form working groups to begin meeting within a month to examine points of contention and try to resolve them.
After talks in Ankara, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the creation of new “mechanisms” to improve the relationship, starting with the question of American support for Kurdish rebels in northern Syria.
“We brought forward proposals on how we can address all of the critical issues that are standing between our countries,” Tillerson said.
The talks followed a lengthy meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Cavusoglu and Tillerson late on Thursday at which a broad range of disagreements were covered.
They included Ankara’s complaints against a US-based Turkish cleric Erdogan accuses of fomenting a failed 2016 coup, US concerns about the state of Turkey’s democracy and opposition to Turkey’s planned purchase of a Russian air defence system.
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