Erdogan launches new tirade against US as relations with Turkey sour

Erdogan slammed Washington Thursday for giving "weapons for free to a terror organization," a reference to the YPG, a key US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria.

The US and Turkey have been at loggerheads for more than a week, following the arrest of a US consular staff member in Turkey. Metin Topuz, a Turkish national who works for the US consulate in Istanbul, is the second US staff member in Turkey to be detained this year.

Both sides have frozen their non-immigrant visa services in each other's countries and Erdogan said he no longer recognized the authority of US Ambassador John Bass.

Relations between the US and Turkey have been on a downward spiral since a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan blames the US for sheltering a Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for the coup.

Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the United States and Erdogan has repeatedly pushed Washington to extradite him. The Turkish President is also furious at US support for the YPG.

But matters took a significant downturn last week with the arrest of Topuz.

Speaking in the capital, Ankara, Erdogan accused the US of sending 3,500 trucks of weapons in to Syria, including heavy arms, saying the weapons were being used by the YPG "to encircle us from the south."

The US has long supported the YPG, a Kurdish rebel group, and began openly supplying arms to it this year. The YPG is the backbone of a larger coalition of rebels that the US is backing to drive ISIS from Syria.

Erdogan said Washington's visa freeze was and its subsequent statements were "neither fair nor truthful." "Unfortunately, a clique from the past administration that is within the American government wants to bring down an ax on relations between Turkey and the current US administration, the President said.

Erdogan took a second shot at the US Ambassador, blaming him for the latest upheaval in relations.

"Honestly speaking, it is the ambassador here who instigated this incident. It is not acceptable that the USA is sacrificing its relations with its strategic partner Turkey for an irresponsible ambassador. We can not accept this," he said.

Bass complained this week that Turkey has given the US no explanation as to why its consular staff members were detained. He also suggested Turkish officials were trying to purposely disrupt relations.

Erdogan also touched on the sensitive issue of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey for more than a year.

He said that the pastor had obvious links to an organization led by Gulen.

Erdogan even suggested two weeks ago that the two men could be swapped, raising concerns that Brunson may have been detained as a bargaining chip.