President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking to journalists on his way back from the NATO summit in Brussels late Thursday, said his meetings with top EU officials were "encouraging," with all sides agreeing on the need to bolster ties and seek further avenues of cooperation. Mentioning his meetings with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker before the NATO summit, Erdoğan said, "Our meeting on accelerating Turkey's membership process was encouraging. We discussed the EU-Turkey deal on refugees, and asked the union's support in Turkey's fight against terrorism."

Turkey and the EU signed a deal early last year, with Turkey agreeing to accept the readmittance of refugees crossing to Europe in exchange for EU's refugee aid and the lifting of the visa restrictions on Turkish nationals. It was about time both sides put behind the unpleasant developments that occurred before the April 16 constitutional reform referendum, Erdoğan said. Turkish and European officials publicly quarreled earlier this year after several European countries banned representatives of the "yes" vote to campaign, while allowing "no" vote backers to campaign with ease. Turkey also condemned some EU members for allowing the supporters of the terrorist group PKK to hold rallies while issuing ban on Turkish officials.

"Tusk and Juncker, both, reiterated the need to turn a fresh page in ties. They had done some preparations before the meeting. They presented us with a 12-month roadmap on what they intend to do, which our Foreign and EU ministries will study. Not only the lifting of the visa, but also on aid that will be channeled to refugees sheltering in Turkey," he said.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani's perception of Turkey was very positive, Erdoğan said. "I saw his remarks on what is happening exactly on the mark. We agreed on the need to strengthen parliamentary ties. I argued that it was important for the European Parliament to take a leadership role in the fight against anti-Islamism, xenophobia and cultural racism."

He especially emphasized Juncker and Tajani's reassuringly warm stance toward Turkey and their interest in improving ties.

NATO NOT CONFUSED ON YPG

President Erdoğan said Turkey fully supported NATO's involvement in the fight against Daesh, adding that the alliance was not confused about the threat posed by the PKK's Syrian wing YPG, which the U.S. continues to use as a proxy in its fight against Daesh.The PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by the U.S., EU and Turkey, has affiliates in Syria, Iraq and Iran, and its Syrian wing YPG is currently being used by the U.S. as foot soldiers to liberate Raqqa and northern Syria from Daesh. The U.S. continues to ignore Turkey's demands to cut contact with the terrorist group, but American officials claim that the YPG and PKK are completely different groups despite the fact that they share leadership, militants and weapons.

Erdoğan said Turkey was the only NATO member fighting three terrorist groups, the PKK, Daesh and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), simultaneously. "We pointed out the fact that it was a mistake to focus on Daesh while ignoring the others. We also argued that it was important for NATO to bolster Turkey's aerial strength."

In his previous meetings with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the issue of YPG had come up, the president said, adding, "The outlook on the YPG is definitely not positive."

"The U.S. is preparing for the Raqqa operation. With whom is it preparing? The YPG. Still, we repeated what we said: If there is any untoward action against our country, we will activate the necessary rules of engagement to eliminate the threat. This is for threats emanating from both Syria and Iraq."

PKK's HQ IN QANDIL, IRAQ

On U.S. President Donald Trump, Erdoğan said his stance was clear. "He said the U.S. remained steadfast with NATO but other members needed to carry a fair burden. Turkey, currently, spends 1.84 percent of its GDP on the military. We are determined to increase it over 2 percent by 2024. Some very ambitious members are well below the target."

GERMANY ON THE DEFENSIVE

In his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Erdoğan expressed Turkey's consternation over Germany's welcoming attitude toward the members of the PKK and FETÖ. "We asked how Germany could grant political asylum to people directly implicated in last year's deadly coup attempt." "She said her hands were tied on judicial matters and that the court procedure on asylum requests was a bit different in Germany. In truth, such matters are within the purview of interior or justice ministries. I don't believe such matters are as hard as they profess it to be. However, it could be a defensive reflex on their part."

He also noted Merkel's request for German parliamentarians to be granted access to the İncirlik Air Base. "Our response was that such visits were granted before after official approval. The German Foreign Ministry can sent us lists and if approved, they can visit the base. However, there may be some parliamentarians who are openly supportive

of terrorists, which cannot be ignored by Turkey. The two foreign ministers will deliberate on the matter."

Turkey's failure to grant access to some German parliamentarians to visit German troops serving there has created consternation in Germany, with some German officials threatening to withdraw from the base.

The matter of Deniz Yücel, a Turkish-German citizen under arrest pending his trial on propaganda in support of the PKK, was also discussed during the meeting with Merkel, said Erdoğan. "I told her there were many 'deniz' cases that should be considered. They have applied for asylum in Germany. First give us the results of 4,500 pending requests. Just recently, Germany granted asylum to terrorist officers. We asked Merkel to hand them over to us. Predictably, we did not get a satisfactory response."

YOUTHFUL MACRON

Erdoğan's meeting with France's newly-elected president Emmanuel Macron came before the summit. "We discussed ways to further develop bilateral political and economic ties. He expressed his determination to stamp out anti-Islamism."

One topic of discussion was defense industry cooperation, Erdoğan said.

A French-Turkish dual citizen Erol Önderoğlu, who is released pending his trial, was discussed, Erdoğan said, adding, "We said he was released but the trial is continuing. Another French citizen is currently in custody waiting to be deported."

When asked what his impression of the youthful Macron was, Erdoğan said, "He is young. I hope, together, we can improve ties. He exudes positive energy. I believe such positive energy will help boost trade and investment ties. For example, defense sector cooperation between France, Italy and Turkey could strengthen ties."

He said he had talked to British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the NATO summit. "I, of course, extended Turkey's much-felt condolences for the recent terrorist attack."

TRANSFORMATION OF TURKEY

Changes introduced by the April 16 referendum has begun to alter Turkish politics, said Erdoğan. The constitutional amendments accepted transform Turkey's system of governance form a presidential to a parliamentary one. The changes allow the president to be a party member, which Erdoğan became earlier this month before being elected as the chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) last weekend.

He said there would be certain changes. The president was allowed in Parliament's General Assembly once a year, and only to hold the opening address of the parliamentary year. "Still, there is nothing stopping me from addressing AK Party's parliamentary group meeting. The Constitution also allows the president to chair cabinet meetings." He said his frequency of parliamentary group speeches of cabinet meetings would change according to presi,dential schedule. It is perfectly proper for Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to address the AK Party group or chair the cabinet in his absence, he said.