[Ghaith Alsayed/AP]
Newly appointed US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, said that the US seeks an equal partnership with Turkey during an interview with Turkish TV channel NTV.
Barrack praised Turkey’s defense industry achievements as well as its regional influence, calling the Turkish drone Bayraktar TB2 “the best in the world,” although he added that the CAATSA law cannot be repealed by the president.
“You have a position where you can be the most influential in what’s becoming the most influential region in the world, you have soft power in the Gulf, you have hard power here, you have the most industrious people, the most hardworking people, a population that is exemplary of soft Islam and secularism,” he said.
He added that both Erdogan and Trump want to bring the relationship on an equal footing.
“You have these two individuals who have had two sets of phone calls saying let’s put this at an equal level,” he said.
“How do we help the people in Turkey, which is suffering at the moment from the evolution of the economy, to be better understood and be a partner, not dictated to as a NATO ally or a strategic partner or a transactional partner,” he added.