The US State Department has denied any involvement in efforts to create a strife in Turkey in response to the Turkish Interior Minister who called on the US Ambassador to Ankara to take his “dirty hands off Turkey”.
Turkey is an important NATO ally and the US’ security partner, a spokesperson of the State Department said on Friday when responding to questions asked by Voice of America Turkish in relation to minister Süleyman Soylu’s comments.
“Any insinuation that the US is involved or supporting efforts to create a strife in Turkey is wrong,” said the spokesperson in an e-mail.
“There is no higher priority for the US State Department than the security and safety of the US citizens abroad. The US embassies and consulates in foreign countries publish notices for US citizens to inform them real-time on certain events and changes that happen in those regions. Those notices are made independent of political or economic evaluations,” continued the spokesperson.
The most recent dispute between Ankara and Washington started when the United States, along with eight European countries, either closed embassies and consulates in Turkey or issued travel warnings on the grounds of possible terrorist attacks. The steps taken by foreign diplomatic missionaries in Turkey followed Ankara’s threats to halt negotiations over NATO’s Nordic expansion after far-right activists burnt copies of the Quran in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
In response, Turkey also issued similar warnings and summoned the ambassadors of nine Western countries, including the United States and Sweden.
Meanwhile, the country’s interior minister directly targeted Jeffry L. Flake, the US ambassador to Ankara.
“Every US ambassador who arrives in Turkey is hurrying to find out how to make a coup possible in Turkey,” said Soylu during a speech in the southern province of Antalya.
“Take your dirty hands off of Turkey. I’m being very clear. I very well know how you would like to create strife in Turkey. Take your grinning face off from Turkey,” he said.
