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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he expressed concern to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan over protests and detentions in Turkey following the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s arrest of President Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s biggest political rival, pending trial for graft, sparked the largest anti-government protests in a decade, prompting mass arrests nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re watching, we\u2019ve expressed concern, we don\u2019t like to see instability like that in the governance of any country that\u2019s such a close ally, especially,\u201d Rubio told reporters on an airplane returning to Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe watch the same news reports everybody else sees about what\u2019s going on. We\u2019re certainly concerned about these protests and some of the reports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s main opposition party has called for protests to continue. Erdogan, who trails Imamoglu in some polls, has dismissed the protests as a \u201cshow\u201d and warned of legal consequences for protesters.<\/p>\n
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 1,879 people had been detained since the protests erupted last Wednesday, with 260 jailed by courts pending trial.<\/p>\n
Rubio and Fidan met in Washington on Tuesday as Ankara seeks warmer ties with the administration of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expressed concerns regarding recent arrests and protests in Turkey,\u201d Rubio said on X after meeting Fidan, but a Turkish diplomatic source disputed the characterization.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did raise it, with the foreign minister and exactly in the words that I\u2019m using now,\u201d Rubio said, while adding that the United States was not going to comment on \u201cevery single\u201d domestic political matter in Turkey.<\/p>\n
Trump had \u201ca very good working relationship with Erdogan in the first administration. They would like to restart that,\u201d Rubio added. \u201cThey are a NATO ally. We would like to cooperate with them in Syria and other places.\u201d<\/p>\n
Widening disagreements between the two long-standing treaty allies have led to ties between the United States and Turkey drifting away from a strategic partnership in recent years.<\/p>\n
Former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration kept Turkey at arm\u2019s length over what it saw as the fellow NATO member\u2019s close ties with Russia.<\/p>\n
Under Trump, who views Moscow much more favorably, Ankara hopes for a closer relationship with Washington.<\/p>\n
During his first term, Trump initially ignored advice from aides to impose sanctions on Turkey for Ankara\u2019s acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems in 2019.<\/p>\n
He then took the step in 2020.<\/p>\n
That acquisition also led to Turkey\u2019s removal from the F-35 jet program, in which it was a manufacturer and buyer. Ankara says its removal is unjust and illegal, and has demanded to rejoin, or be reimbursed for its investment in the program. [Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n