Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 4
By Anahanum Idayatova – Trend:
The tensions in relations between the US and Turkey are possible, and this is perfectly normal, problems in the relations of the US and Turkey occurred before as well, Togrul Ismayil, political scientist, associate professor of the Department of International Relations at the Ankara-based TOBB University of Economics and Technology, told Trend Aug. 4.
Turkey, which is currently rebounding from the April 15 military coup attempt in the country, claims that former Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, the founder of the Gulen movement, is beind the coup attempt.
Gulen currently resides in the US, and Turkey has made two official requests to the US regarding Gulen's extradiction, but they haven't been fulfilled.
Togrul Ismayil believes that everything that is currently happening between Turkey and the US is a temporary cooling of relations, which will soon come to an end.
Turkey and the US are two big countries with own interests, and these interests may sometimes collide, Ismayil said. He said that despite all the problems that exist between the two countries, Turkey continues to be of strategic interest to the US.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu noted that any support to Gulen movement by the US can harm friendly relations between the two countries.
Following the failed coup attempt, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll as a result of the coup attempt stood at 246 people excluding the coup plotters and over 2,000 people were wounded. Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.