Turkey, US have ‘come to terms’ to normalize bilateral relations: FM Çavuşoğlu
ANKARA
“We have come to terms to normalize our relations,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Feb. 16 following a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson in the Turkish capital.
Çavuşoğlu said Turkey and the the U.S. have decided to "establish mechanisms" to tackle issues between the two countries.
Accordingly, the first meeting in line with this mechanism will be held in March, he added.
Meanwhile, Tillerson said the U.S. reaffirmed their deep and important relationship with Turkey.
The U.S. and Turkey share the same objectives in Syria, Tillerson said, referring to the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), forming secure and stable zones, and achieving an independent and unified Syria.
Tillerson said the U.S. recognized Turkey’s legitimate right to secure its borders, adding that weapons provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would be limited, mission specific and provided on incremental basis to achieve military objectives only.
Tillerson also urged Turkey to release a pastor and other U.S. citizens currently jailed in Turkey.