The phrase in the title is by United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He came to Turkey after the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and made this statement at a joint press conference with his counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, yesterday.
He felt the need to use this sentence while explaining the USA's closeness with the PYD/YPG. He coined this sentence while claiming that these organizations were fighting against DAESH. Blinken was also received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Esenboğa Airport Grand Hall of Fame in Ankara yesterday after the press conference.
The headlines of the press conference were, as might be expected, the full membership processes of Sweden and Finland to NATO, the F-16 issue, the F-35 issue, and the Russia-Ukraine War. Let me state at the beginning what I will say at the end; Blinken revealed that there was no change in the point where the USA stood in all these areas, only softer in the atmosphere created by the earthquake.
In fact, he clearly stated that they would not take a step back from where they were. As you know, the priority issue for Turkey at the moment is the revision of F-16s and the purchase of new ones. From the unofficial statements from the US wing, indications that F-16s could be given on a conditional basis had been given before. Of course, Minister Çavuşoğlu told Blinken that Turkey would not accept such a thing. It should be said that there is no clarity on how to solve this issue.
Blinken just stated that the US administration thinks the same as Turkey. So tomorrow the Senate doesn't think the same as us, what should we do? There is a separation of powers in the USA. The Senate did not approve, it created the infrastructure for them to say there is nothing to be done. The F-35 issue is even more complex.
Turkey will think that this issue is no longer likely to be resolved, so it is focused on returning the 1.4 billion USD given for this project. In the meantime, it would be useful to raise a little voice about at least giving the F-35s to Greece. The F-35 issue was not just a commercial deal. Turkey should not squeeze this issue into such an area.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine War, it was stated on various occasions that Turkey did not comply with the unilateral sanctions decisions by the USA and the European Union (EU). The Grain Corridor agreement process was one of them.
However, some circles claimed that Russia was able to export its products that were included in the sanctions and that it made some strategic imports through Turkey. Turkey does not accept this. In fact, he is right not to.
Although this is thought to be possible, it should be known that it will not be possible on a very large scale. Although some European buyer companies accept the Turkey option for Russian products, cost calculations are the biggest obstacle to making this long-term.
This visit means the first visit of US Secretary of State Blinken to Turkey since he took office. And if Blinken is going to make a statement with Turkey in his country, he speaks of Greece somehow before or after. He did the same on this first visit.
He included Greece in his travel program. After Turkey, it was announced that he will meet with Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and opposition party leader Alexis Tsipras in Athens. In other words, the USA now makes Greece a part of the process whenever Turkey comes to the agenda.
Yes, Blinken said yesterday, "We understand Turkey's security concerns," but that's it.
They just understand, but when it comes to doing the right thing, they play the three monkeys.