Turkish FM Cavusoglu slams Pompeo over ‘lies’ in new book

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has slammed Mike Pompeo, who served as US secretary of state underneath then-President Donald Trump, over his allegations in opposition to Türkiye in a not too long ago launched e book, calling his claims as “lies”.

In a press convention within the capital Ankara on Thursday, Cavusoglu mentioned Pompeo’s e book comprises “exaggeration” and “double standard”.

“First of all, there is unreal information, as I might say in diplomatic language, or you might also define it as a lie.”

On the US help for the phobia group YPG/PKK in northern Syria – an ongoing bone of competition in Turkish-US ties – Cavusoglu added: “The support they have given to terrorism, which is a serious crime in the US, I think there is also serious disinformation in order not to face a judicial process.”

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the European Union, the UK, and the US. It has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian branch.

The US claims it partners with the YPG to fight Daesh. But for Ankara it “is unnecessary” to ally with a terror group to fight another terror group.

Cavusoglu also dismissed Pompeo’s claim that the Turkish armed forces lack the ability to defeat Daesh terror group.

“The solely NATO military which took half in hand-to-hand fights in opposition to Daesh terrorists is the Turkish military. We eradicated greater than 4,500 Daesh terrorists each in Syria and Iraq,” Cavusoglu said.

As the Turkish army was advancing against Daesh, “the US through the time period of Pompeo, along with YPG/PKK terrorist teams, despatched Daesh members to Afghanistan by first getting them on the bus in Raqqa and that area after which on the planes,” he mentioned.

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These teams, Cavusoglu mentioned, are the “ones responsible for the terrorist attacks in Afghanistan today, so I’m talking about the attacks of Daesh and Al Qaeda.”

He mentioned the Turkish military cleared an space of 8,000 sq. kilometers (3,089 miles) of territory of each the Daesh and the YPG/PKK in help of the territorial integrity of Syria.

‘Not sincere’

Speaking about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s October 2019 assembly with the US then-Vice President Mike Pence to de-escalate the state of affairs in Syria, Cavusoglu additionally recalled an incident when Pompeo tried to disrupt the assembly between the 2 leaders.

“While we were waiting with Pompeo in a different room, Pompeo was uneasy with the fact that the meeting was taking so long and he asked to enter the room, but I said to him that one of them is the president and the other is the vice president. 

“So in the event that they want us, they are going to summon us. So, because of the protocol, I warned him that it wasn’t applicable to enter,” Cavusoglu said.

As a result of that meeting, Türkiye and the US reached a deal to pause Türkiye’s operations in northern Syria for 120 hours to allow the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from a planned safe zone.

“But on the finish of the day, they didn’t fulfill the duties arising out of joint declaration and so they have proven that they aren’t sincere with their declarations,” Cavusoglu mentioned.

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FETO’s failed coup

On Pompeo’s professed dislike for a video in regards to the defeated 2016 coup by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), Cavusoglu mentioned: “We experienced the images in the video that he called disgusting. The FETO terrorist organisation killed 251 citizens that night.”

“We understand from his Twitter post on that night against our president which he later deleted that he supported the coup attempt. That’s why he’s uncomfortable with the video. Those images show how we defeated the putschists,” he mentioned.

FETO and its US-based chief Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which killed 252 folks and injured practically 2,200 others.

Cavusoglu added that it was Washington DC which disrupted the American coverage of steadiness on Türkiye and the US, including that Pompeo “put ahead these allegations to get votes from the Greek foyer within the US when he hopes to run for president within the subsequent elections.”

Commenting on Pompeo’s 2020 visit to Türkiye to only meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I, Cavusoglu said Pompeo “requested me to satisfy him on the patriarchate in Istanbul. My reply was very clear that if you wish to meet me, come to Ankara.”

Bartholomew I is the Istanbul-based leader of many of the world’s Orthodox Christians.

Cavusoglu, however, was quick to point out that Türkiye’s is continuing to uphold religious freedoms, and is extending “every kind of help to the patriarchate.”

READ MORE: Why did Mike Pompeo escalate tensions with Turkey through the NATO assembly?

Source: AA