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ISTANBUL — Following a number of scheduling modifications, 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 buy 40 new F-16 fighter jets and about 80 modernization kits to improve Turkey’s getting older fleet. Erdogan stated Sunday Biden was receptive in discussions concerning the jet deal and so they talked in a “optimistic ambiance.”
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 stated Biden instructed him the acquisition affirmation would wish to undergo the US Congress and “we might not get outcomes very quickly.” However Biden pledged to do his greatest.
In latest weeks, Erdogan has sought to buy the jets by a financing association that may see the $1.4 billion Turkey paid towards an F-35 fighter jet program repurposed for the F-16 bundle. Turkey was suspended from the F-35 program following a 2019 acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missile protection techniques, 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 just lately materialized in Erdogan’s risk final month to expel 10 overseas 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.
“A very powerful final result is that neither facet is prepared to go for a rupture,” Galip Dalay, a visiting scholar at Oxford College and affiliate fellow Chatham Home, instructed Al-Monitor concerning the Biden-Erdogan assembly.
Dalay added, “The F-16 is without doubt one of the main check instances within the relationship as a result of [it] … will point out to what extent the Turkey-US relationship might be managed.”
As aforementioned, approval for the deal would wish to undergo US Congress, the place 11 lawmakers just lately voiced opposition to the sale and anti-Turkey sentiments have been on the rise amid a lot of bilateral disagreements in home and overseas insurance policies.
Following Sunday’s assembly, the White Home additionally put out a press release 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 regulation for peace and prosperity.”
Nonetheless, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund, stated the continuing F-16 talks present Erdogan is prepared to work with US officers on the difficulty, even when the approval course of is more likely to take time.
“[Erdogan] might have stated Biden is just not promoting me jets, so I’ll purchase [them] from the Russians,” Unluhisarcikli instructed Al-Monitor. “He’s not doing that. So regardless of the difficulties within the US Congress, he appears prepared 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 might be potential.”
After Turkey’s bid to safe Afghanistan’s essential airport fell by 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 other than US-Turkey regional safety and protection cooperation, which is usually “taken with no consideration.”
Itemizing different factors of ongoing US-Turkey cooperation, Dalay highlighted Turkey’s function 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 stated Turkey’s rising footprint in sub-Saharan Africa might additionally draw curiosity from Western nations in search of to counter Chinese language affect on the continent.
“What’s 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 instructed Al-Monitor.
However to gauge near-term tendencies, Dalay pointed to Erdogan’s feedback Sunday wherein the Turkish chief stated Ankara would take “optimistic 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 might supply a substitute for weapons buy with out the obstacles offered by US Congress and with out the purple flags that may be raised by one other S-400 missile buy from Russia.
Erdogan’s SAMP-T remark “displays that Turkey doesn’t need to antagonize the West additional,” Dalay instructed Al-Monitor. “However I don’t see how the F-16 challenge might be resolved until there may be some type of modus vivendi between Turkey and the US on the S-400.”
On Monday, Turkish Protection Ministry officers stated Ankara would maintain a second spherical of talks with US counterparts within the coming months to debate Turkey’s suspension from the F-35 fighter jet consortium.
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