Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said he will discuss the recent tensions between the US and Turkey with his American counterpart Joe Biden in the upcoming NATO leaders’ summit.
In a late night interview with national broadcaster TRT, Erdogan said "preliminary preparations" have been made ahead of the meeting.
"At the meeting, we will ask why the Turkey-US relations are going through such a tense period," said Erdogan.
The meeting between Erdogan and Biden will take place on the sidelines of the June 14 NATO leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium.
Erdogan recalled he had worked with former American presidents both from Democrats and Republicans, including Barack Obama and Donald Trump, saying he did not "have such a tension with any of them".
The president said the most recent tension between the two NATO allies was caused by Biden's recognition of 1915 events as "genocide".
Erdogan criticized his American counterpart once again and reiterated his call that historians and legal experts, but not politicians, should work on the so-called Armenian allegations.
When asked if there was any other reason behind Biden's decision on genocide claims, the president said "Turkey is used to such things," without elaborating.
"Those who corner Turkey this way will lose an important friend," said Erdogan, adding Turkey is "a strong and reliable partner" at NATO.
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