TRT World Forum concludes with speech from President Erdogan

"What is the guarantee that 3,500 armoured vehicles and weapons that the US sent to Syria will not be used against Turkey?" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asks during his address.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the TRT World Forum held in Istanbul on October 19,2017.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the TRT World Forum held in Istanbul on October 19,2017.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday questioned the guarantee the US could give that the 3,500 armoured vehicles Washington had sent to northern Syria will not be used against Turkey.

Speaking at the TRT World Forum President Erdogan addressed a number of topics including Daesh, PKK in Europe, relations between Ankara and Washington as well as the US-based congregation leader Fetullah Gulen and his movement which Ankara calls the Fethullah Gulen Terror Organisation (FETO) that is held responsible for last years coup attempt.

TRT World's Shamim Chowdhury reports from Istanbul.

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Talking about the eradication of Daesh, Erdogan said he had proposed that the campaign to defeat the terrorist could be jointly conducted but the US opted to side with the PYD/YPG.

The PYD is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK which is recognised as a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and the EU. 

The US has been at odds with Turkey over its backing of the PYD/YPG in its campaign against Daesh.

The Turkish president said that it is unfortunate the US had sent 3,500 armoured vehicles and weapons were sent to northern Syria. 

"They said that they are noting down the serial number of all the weapons that are being sent will be returned." 

"I asked them if they believed the weapons will remain in Syria and not be used against Turkey. These weapons will also help Daesh, I told them."

No one could give a guarantee, according to the Turkish president.

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Photo shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Director of News at TRT World Fatih Er during the TRT World Forum in Istanbul on October 19, 2017.

Erdogan questions US partnership over visa row

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also questioned the sincerity of the US strategic partnership with Turkey following a recent visa row.

The row was sparked on October 8, when the US Embassy in Ankara announced the suspension of non-immigrant visa services for Turkish nationals, following the arrest of a local employee at the US Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara.

"Who said this? The ambassador in Ankara. Who is this ambassador? If he [the ambassador] can just say 'we suspended the visas' in a paragraph on behalf of the great US, then I will have to reconsider the strategic partnership," he said.

Metin Topuz, a local US consulate employee, was arrested earlier this month over alleged ties to the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO).

Ankara accuses FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen of orchestrating the defeated coup which martyred 250 people and wounded nearly 2,200.

"Man called FETO is symbolic, but the strings are pulled by others"  

Talking about the plotters of last years coup attempt, President Erdogan said, "The man named FETO (Fetullah Gulen) who went to America in 1999, did not know whether 400 acres of land had been allocated or bought for him in Pennsylvania." 

"From there 170 people are handling this guy. Of course this guy is symbolic, but the ones who manage his affairs are different."

"PKK wandering in Europe"

The Turkish president also highlighted what he called the double standards of Eruope and said that even though the PKK is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the group was allowed to carry posters of its leaders during a rally in France.

He said that Turkey gave 4,500 files to be circulated in Europe, especially in Germnay,  but Ankara did not receive a single response in this regards.

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