Meeting with Biden at NATO summit to mark new era, says Erdoğan

(Updates with Erdoğan-U.S. executives meeting)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday that a meeting next month with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden during a NATO summit will mark the beginning of a new era in relations with Washington.

Praising the United States-Turkey alliance for overcoming differences, Erdoğan stressed Ankara’s care for the “long-standing, rooted and multidimensional alliance’’ with Washington, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Biden and Erdoğan are slated to hold a meeting during the NATO summit in Brussels in June, according to a statement released by the White House last month.

The first meeting between the pair arrives against the backdrop of a string of issues straining relations between the NATO allies, including Ankara’s purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems and Washington’s support for Syrian Kurdish militant groups.

“Although there are differences of ideas from time to time, our partnership and alliance have managed to overcome all kinds of predicaments,” the Turkish president said in an address via video-conference.

Turkey has a “serious’’ potential of cooperation with the United States, “from Syria to Libya, and from fighting against terrorism to energy, and from trade to investment,’’ he added.

Turkey and the United States have backed the U.N-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in war-torn Libya, but the countries are at loggerheads over U.S. support in Syria of Kurdish forces deemed as terrorist organizations by Ankara.

Erdoğan highlighted that addressing issues such as the existence of the Gülen movement in the United States and U.S. support for the Kurdish groups such as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were important to advancing Ankara-Washington relations.

The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement, led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt.

Erdoğan on Wednesday also held a video conference call with the executives of large U.S. companies, including Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Cisco, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, Yeni Akit newspaper reported. 

The Turkish President urged the executives for better ties during the call, in which he reiterated his criticism of the White House’s decision to call the 1915 Ottoman massacre of Armenians a genocide, the newspaper said.

“I believe we will make Turkey, which maintains the status of being the heart of three continents, a base for production and technology with your support,” Erdoğan told the executives through a translator in televised remarks.

The video call, included officials from Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Cisco, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, according to Reuters.

Erdoğan also vowed to simplify Turkey’s incentive system to ensure investors can take advantage of incentives easier.”