Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Erdogan vows Turkey will not be cowed by US

1422290
1422290
minus
plus

Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Saturday that his country would not be cowed by the United States, his latest broadside in the bitter feud between Ankara and Washington.


The two Nato members are at odds over Turkey’s detention of an American pastor, which has triggered a trade row and sent the local currency the lira into a tailspin.


“We will not surrender to those who present themselves as a strategic partner while at the same time trying to make us a strategic target,” Erdogan said at a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).


“Some people threaten us with economy, sanctions, foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. We know your shenanigans and we will defy you.”


Last week, US President Donald Trump said he had doubled the tariffs on aluminium and steel tariffs from Turkey, prompting Ankara to sharply hike tariffs on several US products.


And Turkey on Friday threatened to respond in kind if Washington imposed further sanctions, while a court rejected another appeal to free pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been held for almost two years on terror charges.


Meanwhile, Erdogan told the AKP congress that Turkey would press on with and expand its cross-border military operations.


Turkey sent troops into northern Syria two years ago to fight against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).


The YPG forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-Arab alliance that has received extensive backing from the US-led coalition in the battle against the IS group. — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon