Turkish and US military leaders discuss importance of cooperation

Top Turkish and American generals met in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss “the importance of US-Turkish cooperation,” a statement from the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, today met with the Turkish Chief of Staff, General Yaşar Güler, in Brussels, Belgium,” the statement read.

“The two leaders met while attending the session of the Military Committee of Chiefs of Defense at NATO Headquarters,” he added.

“They discussed the importance of US-Turkish cooperation.”

The statement also underlined the importance of Turkey as a NATO ally.

“Turkey is a key NATO ally and the United States values ​​their strategic bilateral relations,” he added.

The tone of the statement indicated a possible thaw in relations between the two NATO allies, which were strained by US support for the Syrian wing of the terrorist group PKK YPG, Turkey’s acquisition of the defense system Russian anti-missile S-400 and the apparent reluctance of the United States to discuss the extradition of the leader of the Gulenist terrorist group (FETÖ) Fetullah Gülen, who has been in voluntary exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, amid other problems.

Additionally, US President Biden called the deaths of Ottoman Armenians in World War I “genocide” in a recent statement, becoming the first US president to use the controversial term.

Biden’s remarks entered into a customary statement on the anniversary, a day after informing his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, that he was moving forward with this step and seeking to limit the outcry expected from NATO ally.

“We remember the lives of all those who died in the Armenian genocide of the Ottoman era and we reiterate our commitment to prevent such an atrocity from happening again,” Biden said. “And we remember that to always remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms,” ​​he said.