Turkey and the U.S. could put an end to Daesh terror if the two countries join forces, without requiring the help of other countries in the coalition, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday. Speaking at a dinner organized by the Turkish-American community in the U.S., Erdoğan addressed the country by saying that the two countries could "finish off Daesh" if there was a real joint effort."We are calling for a no-fly zone and they are having none of it. We are calling for steps [to be taken] for a land operation and they are dragging their feet," Erdoğan said."To be successful, cooperation between Turkey and the U.S. is crucial," he added. "I told them many, many times: 'Let's join forces and we can finish off Daesh,'" he said. "It [Daesh] will be looking for a place to hide."Turkey launched a military operation along with moderate opposition forces late last month that resulted in the liberation of the town of Jarablus and al-Rai in northern Syria from Daesh terrorists.Erdoğan said the goal is to declare a safe zone that stretches 4,000 to 5,000 square kilometers. Ankara would then build settlements in the safe zone for Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to their country, or for those in Syria who seek to flee the ongoing bloodshed.

"The U.S. does not want any American soldier's foot on Syrian soil. The U.S. would have to clarify the extent of cooperation with Turkey if there were to be one," Professor Dr. İlter Turan, a professor of international relations and former rector of Istanbul Bilgi University, told Daily Sabah.

Meanwhile, President Erdoğan on Friday described the week-long cease-fire in Syria as "a stillborn baby," which ended catastrophically earlier this week with no delivery of humanitarian aid and the bombing of a U.N. aid convoy, to NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin.

'No end to terrorism with terrorist PYD'

President Erdoğan reiterated his criticism of the U.S. for collaborating with the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG). "You can't finish off Daesh with the PYD/YPG because they themselves are terrorists," he said. "Can there be good terrorists and bad terrorists? All of them are terrorists and all of them are bad," he stressed.

Erdoğan said two aircraft belonging to the U.S. army were delivered to the PYD in an air drop last week. "I said to Mr. [U.S. Vice President Joe] Biden yesterday: 'are you aware of this?' He said, 'No.' I said, 'Well, I am,'" Erdoğan said. A similar scenario played out previously in which weapons carried on three aircraft were airdropped and "half of them went to Daesh and half to the PYD," according to Erdoğan.

"This is the painful situation that is unfolding at the moment. Therefore, we need to join forces with the U.S. in a healthy manner and overcome this trouble in the region," he said.Erdoğan said he hopes the U.S. presidential election slated for Nov. 8 "will be conducive towards this."

Turan asserted that the U.S. wants to see results on the ground by using the PYD and the People's Protection Units (YPG). "The U.S. does not seem to change its mind regarding the issue. I think [the U.S.] is thinking that it could lose its credibility with such a move," he contended.

'Gülen should be detained'

The president saved some of his harshest criticism for Washington's response to Turkey's demands regarding the July 15 coup attempt.

"Fethullah Gülen, the mastermind of the bloody July 15 coup attempt, should have at least been detained, if not immediately extradited, per bilateral agreements," Erdoğan said.

Ankara has sent 85 boxes of files regarding the culpability of Gülen and his followers with the coup to Washington but "we still have not been able to explain this to our American friends," he said. Erdoğan was furious about a U.S. congressional committee that invited a FETÖ member to speak about the defeated coup. "How in the world can you do something like this? [The U.S.]has lost its political will to a point where they are willing to listen to a coup plotter rather than a coup victim about the coup," he said.

"Can you possibly imagine listening to [a terrorist's account] of the night when a coup targeted democracy?" he asked. "We expect sincerity and effort from the American administration," he added. Erdoğan also called on representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to "tell the truth everywhere, in every capacity." The president added that "We need to convince the American public."

Speaking at another NGO meeting later in the day, Erdoğan said the FETÖ network is trying to gain foothold for itself in the U.S. by "indirectly transferring the money it received from the American [governmental] budget back into American politics."

"We are sure that American authorities are aware about how this crooked system works," Erdoğan added.

FETÖ currently has control over more than 100 charter schools in the U.S., which earns the terrorist group millions of dollars courtesy of the American government.