The relationship between the United States and Turkey could be "saved" if President Donald Trump's administration would take their country's "security concerns seriously," said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, The Hill reported Saturday.
"The relationship can be saved and improved provided that the U.S. administration takes Turkey's security concerns seriously," Kalin wrote in a column for the pro-government newspaper, the Daily Sabah.
Relations between the two countries have been strained after the imprisonment of American pastor Andrew Brunson in October 2016. Brunson has denied charges of orchestrating an attempted coup, and the U.S. has charged Turkey with false terrorism, while Turkish officials maintain the pastor is guilty of espionage.
Trump threatened to impose heavy sanctions on Turkey Thursday, but Kalin maintained in his column the relationship between the two countries had to be "mutual and mutually respectful and beneficial," adding that they had not aligned themselves with countries hostile to the United States.
"President Trump may have good intentions for relations with President Erdoğan and Turkey. This will certainly be reciprocated when the relationship is based on mutual respect and shared interest," Kalin wrote.
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