With a rich photo album, flattering jokes and expressions of politeness, but also with several promises, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan departed the White House yesterday after 4 years and 2,5 hours of meeting, attempting a "total return" to the American and international political scene.
For Ankara, the visit to the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, aimed to resolve outstanding issues from a decade and certainly the period of Democratic rule, as the Turkish President early on laid out his wish list, including:
• the acquisition of F-16 and F-35 with a return to the relevant programs,
• the deepening of bilateral energy relations,
• cooperation in the field of defense industry,
• the transfer of know-how, but also the increase in bilateral trade, with the agreement to acquire 200 new aircraft from Boeing as a starting point.
"Meeting - contract"
The fact that the Turkish President had prepared a "meeting-contract", that is, an agenda of different trade deals with the American President, was also the key to its success, since it offered the host new financial resources, but also the opportunity to convince American public opinion of the effectiveness of his person-centered approach to foreign policy.
New priorities
With Erdogan's… gifts amounting to several billion dollars, President Trump responded that he is willing to exempt Turkey from the CAATSA sanctions on American fighter jets, as long as it in turn stops buying Russian oil. In effect, the American President asked his counterpart to prioritize his allies internationally, given that Turkey has the Russian S-400 system, which caused the imposition of American sanctions. Although this particular weapons system was not mentioned by name by Trump, it has nevertheless mobilized members of Congress of Greek origin, as any exemption for the Turkish side from the sanctions framework goes through a vote on Capitol Hill, where the majority is not a given for the White House.
At the same time, however, Donald Trump's stance showed the Turkish President that his return to the fighter jet program goes through Ukraine, as Russian oil finances Moscow's military machine, which President Erdogan now stands against. Without a clear timetable, "we can easily make a deal on the F-35, but Erdogan will have to do something for us first," Trump said, leaving the possibility open and without, however, clarifying what the US wants from Turkey to close the F-35 deal.
For the Atlantic Council, the meeting was successful for three reasons, as it “signals a positive, albeit partial, shift in tone in the bilateral relationship,” while “the image of the joint press conference was extremely positive.” Moreover, US interests align with those of Ankara on a range of issues, such as the situation in Syria, Ukraine, the end of the war in Gaza, but also the resumption of broader defense industrial cooperation, with the HalkBank settlement chapter also open.
Additionally, “after the closed-door meeting, we have indications that significant progress was made in several areas,” the Atlantic Council notes, concluding that two major energy agreements – one for twenty-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases worth $43 billion and a civil nuclear energy agreement involving small modular reactors – were formalized during the meeting.
As for the Greek... color of the meeting, the reopening of the Theological School of Halki came back to the fore as a request conveyed by the American President to his Turkish counterpart, in an attempt to satisfy demands that instill a sense of balance and tolerance at a regional level.
Weaning from Russia
In the big picture, the meeting itself, the rich image and the atmosphere captured the closeness of the two leaders, as well as the bilateral cooperation, improving Ankara's diplomatic position. However, "not all observers in Ankara or Washington will be happy with this closer alignment, but decision-makers have weighed the pros and cons and are moving forward," the same American think tank emphasizes, underlining the parameter... Ukraine.
Even a return to the F-35 program implies the economic weaning of Moscow from Ankara, that is, the deprivation of valuable resources derived from Russian oil, especially when there are suspicions that it is spilling beyond the neighboring country.
In such a case, a partial lifting of the sanctions of the CAATSA law (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), would pave the way for Turkey's participation even more actively in the European pillar of NATO. Weaning from Russia is also the goal in the field of bilateral energy cooperation signed yesterday at the White House, as it "signals an alternative to Russia's dominant role in Turkey's energy sector through the Akkuyu nuclear power plant and future projects", as it is pointed out, giving Turkey the opportunity to tip the scales towards the US side, if it ultimately chooses to do so.
"The meeting discussed the joint steps we will take in the coming period as two allied and friendly countries. The emphasis was placed on areas of regional cooperation that we can implement. It was an extremely productive and successful visit," said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, setting the tone for yesterday's day, with the roadmap for implementing the agreements open.
Source: protothema.gr
