Turkey’s president wishes to improve testy relations with US

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president says common interests with the United States outweigh their differences and called for more cooperation with President Joe Biden’s new U.S. administration. In a video message late Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged that Turkish-American relations were “seriously tested” but stressed that their strategic partnership has “overcome all kinds of difficulties.” Erdogan’s conciliatory tone follows his strongly worded accusations that the U.S. supported Kurdish militants. Turkish troops last week found the bodies of 13 Turkish hostages held by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in a cave in northern Iraq. Turkey has been frustrated by U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group.