US risks ‘losing a friend’

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that the United States risked "losing a precious friend" if it tries to corner his country, speaking two weeks before his first meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden. 

Already tense, relations between the two Nato states have further deteriorated since Biden replaced Erdogan's ally Donald Trump in January, with the new president making a point of highlighting Turkey's dire human rights record.

When asked about Ankara-Washington relations, Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT on Tuesday that "those who corner the Republic of Turkey will lose a precious friend".

Erdogan's combative stance comes ahead of the first meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Brussels on June 14.

Biden was in no rush to speak with the Turkish leader after taking office, waiting three months before calling Erdogan in April.

That call was also on the eve of Biden's historic decision to recognise the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman empire during World War I, a move that outraged Turkey which rejects that term.

He also listed several issues that have strained relations since 2016, including US support for Kurdish militias in Syria that Turkey deems "terrorists".