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June 11, 2021
Editorial by Al-Monitor
After nearly five months of policy spats, sanctions on the defense sector, an F-35 fighter jet program expulsion, and a genocide recognition, the stage is finally set for President Joe Biden to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The leaders will meet in Brussels ahead of a NATO annual summit.
There’s no shortage of talking points. Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system triggered sanctions in December by Washington, who also expelled Ankara from its F-35 joint strike fighter program. In the most recent maneuvering, Erdogan extended a military offensive against Kurdish separatists allied with a group the US backs.
In his meeting with Biden, Erdogan must walk a tightrope between restoring relations with Washington and also selling the meeting at home, where anti-American sentiment is running high.
Despite the differences between Ankara and Washington, Erdogan doesn’t want to lose the United States as an ally. He is experiencing one of his weakest moments https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/06/his-weakest-moment-erdogan-meet-biden as President, facing mounting domestic problems including soaring inflation rates that have reached double digits and increasing unemployment. Washington could prove a critical partner to recovering Turkey’s fragile economy.
For Biden, Turkey could prove an important regional partner to limit https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/06/meeting-biden-looms-critical-test-erdogangrowing Iranian and Russian influence. Sources close to meeting preparations told Bloomberg that Erdogan may present Turkey’s plans to sell armed drones to Ukraine and Poland as a possible deter to Russia.
But selling Washington as an important partner for Turkish nationalists has been a tough road, especially among Erdogan’s strongest supporters. They remember that Biden previously called Erdogan an “autocrat” and backed his removal. Relations with Washington soured further when Turkey summoned its US envoy after Biden became the first US leader since Ronald Reagan to recognize the Ottoman Empire’s systematic massacre and forced deportation of Armenians as a genocide.
Emma Olive 