ISTANBUL — Following a number of scheduling changes, US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome Sunday to debate the nations’ troubled tensions.
Excessive on Erdogan’s agenda was a request to purchase 40 new F-16 fighter jets and about 80 modernization kits to improve Turkey’s growing old fleet. Erdogan mentioned Sunday Biden was receptive in discussions concerning the jet deal they usually talked in a “positive atmosphere.”
Erdogan expanded on the statements Monday after abruptly canceling plans to attend the COP26 local weather convention in Glasgow over alleged disagreements on safety preparations, telling reporters aboard his Turkey-bound flight he anticipated Biden to assist in the approval course of for the F-16 deal.
In line with Turkish media reviews, Erdogan mentioned Biden advised him the acquisition affirmation would wish to undergo the US Congress and “we could not get outcomes very quickly.” However Biden pledged to do his best.
In latest weeks, Erdogan has sought to buy the jets by means of a financing association that will see the $1.4 billion Turkey paid towards an F-35 fighter jet program repurposed for the F-16 package deal. Turkey was suspended from the F-35 program following a 2019 acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missile protection methods, which US officers say threaten to compromise the F-35’s know-how.
The F-16 jet request comes amid excessive tensions in US-Turkey relations, which most not too long ago materialized in Erdogan’s risk final month to expel 10 foreign envoys, together with the US consultant, over a joint name for the discharge of imprisoned Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala.
But amid bilateral disagreements spanning from Syria coverage to sovereign rights within the Jap Mediterranean and past, analysts see the continuation of F-16 buy discussions as an avenue for “optimistic dialogue” between the NATO-allied nations.
“An important consequence is that neither facet is keen to go for a rupture,” Galip Dalay, a visiting scholar at Oxford College and affiliate fellow Chatham Home, advised Al-Monitor concerning the Biden-Erdogan assembly.
Dalay added, “The F-16 is among the main check instances within the relationship as a result of [it] … will point out to what extent the Turkey-US relationship may be managed.”
As aforementioned, approval for the deal would wish to undergo US Congress, the place 11 lawmakers not too long ago voiced opposition to the sale and anti-Turkey sentiments have been on the rise amid quite a lot of bilateral disagreements in home and international insurance policies.
Following Sunday’s assembly, the White Home additionally put out a statement saying Biden reaffirmed “US considerations over Turkey’s possession of the Russian S-400 missile system” in his talks with Erdogan and “additionally emphasised the significance of sturdy democratic establishments, respect for human rights, and the rule of legislation for peace and prosperity.”
Nonetheless, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund, mentioned the continued F-16 talks present Erdogan is keen to work with US officers on the difficulty, even when the approval course of is more likely to take time.
“[Erdogan] may have mentioned Biden is just not promoting me jets, so I’ll purchase [them] from the Russians,” Unluhisarcikli advised Al-Monitor. “He’s not doing that. So regardless of the difficulties within the US Congress, he appears keen to stroll the stroll, which I feel is optimistic.”
He added, “Attitudes towards Turkey may change, so it’s good to start out the process now in order that afterward this procurement may be attainable.”
After Turkey’s bid to secure Afghanistan’s major airport fell by means of following a controversial US troop pullout from the nation in August, Unluhisarcikli famous the F-16 deal supplied a “optimistic agenda merchandise” between the NATO allies aside from US-Turkey regional safety and protection cooperation, which is usually “taken without any consideration.”
Itemizing different factors of ongoing US-Turkey cooperation, Dalay highlighted Turkey’s position within the Black Sea area, Ukraine, in addition to close to alignment in Ankara’s and Washington’s pursuits in each Iraq and Libya. Within the long-term, Dalay additionally mentioned Turkey’s rising footprint in sub-Saharan Africa may additionally draw curiosity from Western nations looking for to counter Chinese language affect on the continent.
“What is going to check the way forward for the US-Turkey relationship … is mainly nice energy competitors and the place Turkey will stand in that vis-a-vis Russia and China,” Dalay advised Al-Monitor.
However to gauge near-term developments, Dalay pointed to Erdogan’s feedback Sunday wherein the Turkish chief mentioned Ankara would take “positive steps” concerning the SAMP-T missile protection system developed by the French-Italian EUROSAM consortium. The expressed curiosity in advancing talks on the SAMP-T may provide an alternative choice to weapons buy with out the obstacles introduced by US Congress and with out the pink flags that will be raised by one other S-400 missile buy from Russia.
Erdogan’s SAMP-T remark “displays that Turkey doesn’t wish to antagonize the West additional,” Dalay advised Al-Monitor. “However I don’t see how the F-16 problem may be resolved until there’s some sort of modus vivendi between Turkey and the US on the S-400.”
On Monday, Turkish Protection Ministry officers mentioned Ankara would maintain a second round of talks with US counterparts within the coming months to debate Turkey’s suspension from the F-35 fighter jet consortium.
