İYİ Party reacts to agreements signed between Erdoğan and Trump: We will pay heavy prices

Referring to the agreements between the two countries during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's US visit, Çömez said, "We are facing incredible concessions. There are heavy prices that Turkey will pay in the short, medium, and long term."

İYİ Party's Çömez stated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "They talk trash outside. Then they come to us and say, 'Please intervene to solve the issues.'

Then they beg us to be able to shake hands with Trump," adding, "I reject these statements. I ask our Foreign Minister and the diplomats who were on the US trip, 'Why didn't you respond?' No will can say 'they are begging' to my country and those who govern it.

If they do, they will get a response. Now I ask, why didn't you respond? Why didn't you do what was necessary to protect the reputation of this country? Wasn't it said that there is no saving on reputation? Is this reputation? The US Secretary of State said 'they are begging us.' I do not want to witness any member of my country begging in a foreign country. Come out and give an answer to this," he said.

"WILL IT REMAIN INDIFFERENT?"

Recalling that the US Ambassador to Ankara, Tom Barrack, also said about Turkey, "These are a kind of authoritarian regime. Actually, they want legitimacy," Çömez said, "So where is the answer? Will the Gazi Assembly, which fought the liberation struggle of this country, remain indifferent to this? Will the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remain indifferent to this? We haven't seen any response," he expressed.

"THE PRESIDENT SAYS HE IS NOT CURIOUS"

Touching upon the F-16 sale, Çömez said, "The F-16s have not been delivered yet. We know there are some conditions. We hear that there are impositions from the US. It is said that they put forward some restrictions such as 'We will give them, but you will not fly over the Aegean islands or in northern Syria.' We did not rely on rumors and submitted a parliamentary question to the Ministry of National Defense, but no answer came. In the F-35 issue, we paid 1.5 million dollars. We have been waiting for 6 years. A journalist asked Erdoğan. He said, 'I am not curious. Why are you?' Mr. Erdoğan, we are also curious on behalf of the nation. Where is this money? You paid 1.5 million dollars, you set out as a founding partner of this project, but you were excluded from the project, and there is neither a plane nor money in the middle. We will hold them accountable for every single penny of this nation. Where is this money? A country's president has paid 1.5 million dollars, but says 'I am not curious'," he spoke.

Çömez continued as follows:

"Before leaving, President Erdoğan also signed a document and said to the US, 'While I am trading with you, I am signing some articles that will finish off Turkish agriculture.' The issue is rice. He zeroed out additional taxes. He also zeroed out additional taxes on leaf tobacco. This country has become a country that imports rice. The money we pay annually for tobacco and tobacco products is 1 billion dollars. He says, 'Turkish farmers are not important, let Johnny earn more, I lowered the taxes.' He says I also lowered taxes on nuts. Alcoholic beverages will now come tax-free. The one-man regime is the one doing this too. Tax cuts came in many areas. But the most important thing is agriculture. The tax cuts made in agriculture are a blow to Turkish agriculture. According to our calculations, there will be employment losses in the agricultural sector in Turkey in the coming periods."

"DIDN'T YOU SAY WE FOUND 1 TRILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF NATURAL GAS?"

Pointing out that natural gas will be purchased from the US within the scope of the agreement made with Mercuria according to Reuters news, Çömez said, "Mercuria is a company headquartered in Southern Cyprus. It is a company co-founded by the US and some countries. What business do you have with companies in Southern Cyprus? Will you also buy gas from Israel through this company in the coming periods? Weren't you buying from the US? You will first liquefy the gas in the US, load it onto tankers, and then bring it to Turkey. This will not be enough, you will convert it into natural gas. The cost is about 2 times higher. It is 1.5 or 2 times the money we would have to pay if we bought it from Russia or Azerbaijan. What is the reason for this? Didn't you say, 'We found 1 trillion dollars worth of natural gas'? Didn't Berat Albayrak say, 'We found the world's largest natural gas reserves. Turkey will be a giant in the world energy league'? But you see that after these processes, natural gas prices are being hiked in Turkey. A 6-fold hike has been made. This was not enough, and concessions were given to the US," he said.

Touching upon the Boeing purchase, Çömez asked, "We will pay 50 billion dollars according to one account, and 80 billion dollars according to another. Well, do we really need to buy these planes? Well, is there a cheaper one? At 1/3 of the price. There is Brazil's Embraer firm. The US uses this because it is cheap on its domestic lines, but we go and buy the expensive one to make peace with Trump. There is something else. The Boeing firm is among the leading firms supporting the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza. They provide all of Israel's spare parts. While you are pouring money into them, aren't you supporting Israel's attacks?"

"THERE IS NO REASONABLE ANSWER TO ANY OF THE QUESTIONS"

Regarding the discussions on KAAN aircraft, Çömez said, "Every technological step to be taken in Turkey is highly valued. We support and approve it. But if someone is exploiting and lying, we stand against that too. You said, 'Our 100 percent domestic KAAN aircraft is in the skies.' We applauded. You said, 'We are selling it to Indonesia,' but Hakan Fidan said, 'This project has stopped.' It stopped because of the US sanctions on Turkey. The Head of Defense Industries said this matter would be resolved. The Foreign Minister and the Head of Defense Industries of a country came face to face. Now we are curious. Will the CAATSA sanctions be lifted or not? Well, how did you fly this first plane? We learned this too. They took an F-16 engine, took two laps, and said, 'our 100 percent domestic aircraft is in the air.' There is no reasonable answer to any of these questions from the Turkish delegation, about whom Trump said, 'They are all smart kids. I wish they weren't so smart'," he said.

Stating that US President Trump said to President Erdoğan during the meeting, "He knows election fraud better than anyone," Çömez added, "Don't we need to give an answer to this? Shouldn't it be said, 'As a country, I was offended by this. Elections in our country are not fraudulent'? No answer was given to Trump. We asked in the Assembly, and an AKP official said, 'Actually, Erdoğan knows the fraud in the US very well.' I listened with sadness."

Recalling that Trump said regarding the release of Pastor Brunson, "I called Erdoğan immediately and he finished the job," Çömez added, "Where did our judicial independence go? The Minister of Justice talks about the independence of the judiciary every single day. What will you say to this? It is not possible to talk about judicial independence."

Çömez continued as follows:

"When you put all these one after another, we are facing incredible concessions. There are heavy prices that Turkey will pay in the short, medium, and long term. When we ask what was received in return, neither F-35 nor F-16 nor Aegean islands... There is no progress in any of these."

News Source: 12punto