President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “With the American footprints dating back to two decades, the region was not any safer. On the contrary, every day, the region lost more blood.”
The extended interview of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with American television channel CBS in New York, where he was attending the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, has been aired. President Erdoğan answered the questions of Margaret Brennan and commented on the developments in Afghanistan and relations between Türkiye and the US.
“Taliban is using American weapons and vehicles”
President Erdoğan responded to the question, “Do you think the US departure from Afghanistan makes the region less safe?” as follows:
“With the American footprints dating back to two decades, the region was not any safer. On the contrary, every day, the region lost more blood. We used to have 1000 troops in Afghanistan, and we executed our duties in order to protect the airport there. And finally, when we were asked to possibly run the airport, we got together in Brussels with President Biden, where we discussed these issues, and we told him that we could possibly assume such a responsibility. But on the condition of three requests: one of them is logistical support. And, of course, logistical support includes financial and equipment support. Another step would be the transfer of the ammunition, the vehicles and the weapons there to Türkiye. But such things have unfolded that the exact opposite happened. The artillery, the ammunition, the weapons and the vehicles at the Karzai airport were all transferred over to the Taliban. The Taliban is currently using those American weapons and vehicles. We have to see all these facts for what they are. But we are actually accustomed to certain things because, similarly, the terrorist organisations in and around Türkiye have received logistical support from the United States to a very severe extent. It was the case with the previous government, with the previous administration, and it's exactly the same right now. The terrorist organisations receiving this kind of support should be stopped once and for all: PKK, PYD, YPG, these terrorist organisations should not receive this kind of artillery and weapons support.”
“Terrorist organisations should not receive support from the US”
Upon the question, “They were US allies in the fight against DAESH, have you seen any evidence that weapons provided to them went back into Türkiye? Is there any threat to you from any of these groups because of US support?” President Erdoğan said, "I've raised this issue personally with President Trump when he was in the office, and currently, trucks full of artillery, ammunition and weapons are coming to the region, and we have provided this information to the administration through our intelligence agency, and we will continue to do so in the future."
When asked, “Did you present it to President Biden?” President Erdoğan noted, "All of this was submitted to our interlocutors, and the current Turkish intelligence chief is talking to his counterpart on a continuous basis. We will never shy away from sharing this information with our interlocutors because there are certain facts that we have to admit. The United States is a NATO member. Similarly, Türkiye is a NATO member, and while we are in a position to be obliged to forge solidarity under the roof of NATO, the terrorist organisations should not receive such logistical support. We would be vocal about this."
“We've been supportive of Afghanistan in an unprecedented fashion, unlike any other”
Upon being asked “if Türkiye is providing help and technical support to the Taliban to run the airport right now and what he thought of this new Taliban government” President Erdoğan said:
“Currently, there's not an issue upon which we have reached an agreement, a consensus with Taliban. Taliban is currently moving jointly with Qatar, and we have withdrawn our troops, and our civilians were evacuated. We're not currently at the airport, and we don't have cooperation outstanding with the Taliban right now. But I need to be very frank and very clear in my following remarks. We have historic relations with the Afghan people, and we've always been very supportive of Afghanistan in an unprecedented fashion, unlike any other. And in terms of infrastructure, in terms of superstructure, we were involved in major investments, which we will continue for the future. But because of the mistakes made in the field, we had to withdraw our troops and evacuate our civilians. And right now, we are not present in Afghanistan.”
“(Running the Kabul Airport) will entirely depend on agreements”
Upon the question “Won't you help run the airport?” President Erdoğan said, "As I said, it will entirely depend on possible agreements. If a positive step is taken based on a reciprocal understanding... The government in Afghanistan is not inclusive, is not embracing all different factions right now. So long as that will be the question, we won't be present in Afghanistan, but if the government shall be more inclusive, we can be there, present, as Türkiye.
“Women should be present in every aspect of life in Afghanistan”
Upon the question “Taliban is only letting boys go back to school, not girls. They've told women not to show up for work in government positions. It doesn't look like the Taliban has evolved. Can you do business with a government like this?”, President Erdoğan responded, “Türkiye’s approach to women's issues is quite well known. Women are present in every aspect of life, in education, health, justice, and the judiciary. Women are present in every aspect of life. So long as this is the situation in our country, why would we have a different stance in Afghanistan? Our views would apply to Afghanistan as well. We would expect all women to be involved in every aspect of life in Afghanistan in a very active way. And whenever women become more active in every aspect of life, we can support them if they would need us in health care and security and in other walks of life. If they need, we could support them in terms of education in our country as well.”
When asked “It sounds like you don't want to do business with the Taliban at this point?”, President Erdoğan said, "About the issues that I've just listed, if they shall be agreed on, if they will be accepted and recognized, we can do business, but if not, we won't do business with them."
“Our doors are not going to be the kind of doors that everybody can freely walk in and out of.”
Upon the question, “You have Afghan refugees now fleeing the country. Some of them headed towards your country of Türkiye. You said last month Türkiye has no duty, responsibility or obligation to be a refugee warehouse. Whose obligation is it? Is it America's obligation to take in these refugees?” President Erdoğan stated, "Right now... the United States failed to meet its obligations. Both registered and non-registered, we have more than 300,000 Afghan refugees. We will no longer be able to afford to welcome any more Afghan refugees in our country. However, if the United States is willing to accept the Afghan refugees here, that's something they would know. I cannot particularly share American refugee policies, but I guess the US would not share mine, either. But I'm very clear in my remarks that our doors are not going to be the kind of doors that everybody can freely walk in and out of.
“Why the United States has been in Afghanistan for the last 20 years is a question that should be answered by the United States”
Upon the question, “Does the US need to do more?” President Erdoğan commented as follows, “Of course, the United States should do a lot and should invest a lot. Because Why the United States has been there for the last 20 years? First, this question should be answered by the United States. The United States should have been capable of assessing the issue sociologically, but why fail to do that? The armament in Afghanistan, for example, why was it made? These issues should be emphasised. When so many bodyguards mobilised in Afghanistan, they were getting paid extraordinary amounts. All of these issues should be questioned by all Americans. Why did the United States enter Afghanistan? Why did it withdraw from Afghanistan? These are questions that should be posed by the Americans.”
“We, as NATO allies, would jointly work”
Upon the question, “Did you pose these questions to President Biden back in June when you met face-to-face? Did you warn him that you saw potential problems?” President Erdoğan said, “The issues we discussed in Brussels were mainly revolving around the airport. We posed the relevant questions about the airport to President Biden. I said, ‘If you want us to be present at the airport, we need logistics support from you, and administrative, financial support would be most welcome. And as a NATO partner, we would jointly work with you in the field.’”
“F-35s we paid for have not been delivered to us”
Upon the question, “You are part of NATO, as is the United States. The Russian government says that Türkiye plans to continue buying their S-400 missile defence system. Why do you continue to go through with this? Did President Biden ask you to stop?” President Erdoğan said the followings:
“I explained everything to President Biden, and through you, I would like to once again state the following: We bought F-35 aircraft, and we paid 1.4 billion dollars. But the aircraft we paid 1.4 billion dollars for was never delivered to us. And we requested to acquire Patriots, but again, we were never given Patriots. When we were talking to President Trump about these issues way back, he said the following, ‘Well, Türkiye has paid 1.4 billion dollars for F-35s, and why are we not giving them F-35s?’ He said this right in front of the entire world press. Why my five aircraft are still not being delivered? I made the payment. This is evident.”
“The United States cannot interfere with what air defence systems we acquire”
Upon the question about the United States’ attitude against Türkiye’s procurement of S-400s, President Erdoğan said, “Nobody can interfere with that. If you do not give me Patriots, I will possibly acquire defence systems from another country, and nobody can get involved in this. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg came up with the best statement. He said, ‘We cannot interfere with from whom, from where, how much defence systems our partners buy.’ Who said that? Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General. That’s the truth. Well, sorry, and I am going to say: who is going to share Türkiye’s security risks? Are we going to keep expecting delivery of weapons from other countries that did not give us those weapons? Nobody will be able to interfere in terms of what kind of defence systems we acquire from which country. Nobody can interfere with that.”
Noting that it would take more than just the air force, President Erdoğan said, “Defence systems are one thing, the air force is another thing. Because right now, in terms of the air force, maybe the United States will not maintain the F-16 program. I do not have such a guarantee that the Americans will continue to supply the F-16. If that will be interrupted, then we will be forced to take other measures.”
“Türkiye will show its resolve in terms of defence”
President Erdoğan said, “In the future, nobody will be able to interfere in terms of what kind of defence systems we acquire from which country. Nobody can interfere with that. We are the only ones to make such decisions. We are a country with 84 million inhabitants, and we are very resolute in terms of our defence systems and the necessary measures to be taken, and nobody can interfere with that.”
“(You still intend to buy another round of these S-400s, of these Russian missile systems?) Of course, yes”
Upon the question, “You still intend to buy another round of these S-400s?” President Erdoğan said, “In the future, nobody will be able to interfere in terms of what kind of defence systems we acquire from which country. Nobody can interfere with that. We are the only ones to make such decisions. We are a country with 84 million inhabitants, and we are very resolute in terms of our defence systems and the necessary measures to be taken, and nobody can interfere with that.”
When the presenter said, “That sounds like a yes.”, President Erdoğan said, “Of course, yes.”
“It is only us to decide what we are going to do in the Middle East”
Upon the question, “The American public has decided it does not have the political will to be involved militarily in the Middle East anymore. What does that mean for you and your country?”, President Erdoğan said:
“Well, this is the approach of the Americans, of the American people. There is nothing we can do about it. We can decide what we are going to do in the Middle East. I am just stating one fact. The United States is a NATO member, and Türkiye is, as well. The United States will decide if it will be moving forward with the terrorist organisations such as PKK, PYD, YPG or if it will be moving forward with the friend and ally under the NATO roof. I prefer the second one, actually.”
“I always told US Presidents about the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist organisations”
Upon the question, “Has the Biden administration told you that it has any intention of changing its policy towards its Kurdish allies in Syria and Iraq?” President Erdoğan said, “We did not have the opportunity to talk about these issues because we mainly focused on the issue of Afghanistan. But, when I was speaking to my leader friends in the United States, including the Trump administration, I told them about the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist organisations. We asked, ‘What are you going to do about the thousands of weapons and our artillery and the ammunition they brought to Turkey?’I never got a positive response about that issue.”
Upon the question, “Do you want US troops, the nine hundred that are left in Syria, to stay or to go?” President Erdoğan said, “Of course, if I have the choice, I would want them to get out of Syria and Iraq. Just like the way they have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Because if we are going to serve peace around the world, it is no longer meaningful to remain in those parts of the world. We can just leave those people, leave those administrations to make up their own minds.”
“We are currently building 100,000 units of brick homes in Syria”
Upon the question, “And leave it to Türkiye to intercede into Syria?” President Erdoğan said, “Let me be very clear and frank: we will never remain where we are not wanted. We will never be present where we are not welcome. In Syria, we are currently building 100,000 units of brick homes. People and families were displaced, and they were kicked out of their motherland, and we are building these units for them there. And I wonder what the other countries are doing, and it is very important to see it.”
“We are talking about these facts with Putin”
Upon the question, “Is that what you are going to talk to Vladimir Putin about?” President Erdoğan said, “We are already talking about these facts with Putin.”
Erdoğan said, “I hope that the United States, Russia, Iran, Türkiye can work together collectively for the peace of the people both in Syria and Iraq.”