Turkey, US work in good faith to solve problems in Afghanistan: Defense chief

Turkey and the United States continue to work in good faith to solve the problems on the issue of the Afghanistan crisis, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, noting that this cooperation is positively reflected in U.S. politics.

"I think that the close cooperation carried out at Kabul Airport has probably reflected positively on U.S. politics and media," he said, speaking to daily Hürriyet on Sept. 11.

When asked about the state of the Turkish-U.S. relations in the past period, Akar said, "Let's just say that at least it didn't get worse."

Elaborating on cooperation areas other than the crisis in Afghanistan, where Ankara and Washington are in discussions for the security of Kabul Airport, the minister said: "Under the leadership of our president, our country, which has become a subject in international relations and whose sphere of influence and interest is expanding day by day, is a regional power."

"Turkey is a strong, effective and reliable ally for the U.S. in its region. If the U.S. is to be in the Middle East, it must cooperate with Turkey. We are the country with which the U.S. will cooperate in the region," he added.

Turkey wanted to act in cooperation with the U.S. and all its allies, especially in Syria since 2011, and it did not do anything in secret, Akar said.

"For example, in 2015, we have largely completed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to fight together against DAESH [ISIL] in Syria. However, at the last moment, they changed their mind and decided to cooperate with the YPG. We also stated that we could act together against DAESH in Raqqa. They did not agree to that either. Finally, we could act together in Libya. However, we have not received a positive response on this issue. We all saw...