Erdogan's Trump ties give Turkey edge
Washington: President Donald Trump has berated and belittled many of his European counterparts expected to attend next week's NATO summit in Turkey. But host Recep
Washington: President Donald Trump has berated and belittled many of his European counterparts expected to attend next week's NATO summit in Turkey. But host Recep Tayyip Erdogan has drawn on his close ties with the U.S. leader to secure his presence at the Ankara event - an appearance that may even come with a significant gift related to Turkish defense. Trump has frequently praised Erdogan, calling him a "hell of a leader" and a good friend. "I would not have gone for most people," Trump said last week. "But he called me up. He said: 'Please, I have it in Turkey. You got to be there. The United States has to be in there.' And so I'm going out of respect to President Erdogan." Leveraging that respect has helped Erdogan avoid the disarray that Trump's absence would cause the alliance, particularly at a time when the Republican president has been repeatedly threatening to pull U.S. forces from Europe and scale back America's role in NATO, unsettling allies. Trump has long rebuked other NATO countries over their defense spending and he claimed last year's pledge to collectively boost it as a major personal win. More recently, he has clashed with alliance members for failing to back his war against Iran. But Trump has sweetened the deal for Erdogan by also hinting that he could make news during his visit related to jet engines and the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets barred for years because of Turkey's closeness with Moscow. Trump's affinity for strongmen leaders has long made him an admirer of Erdogan, who amassed power in Turkey first as its prime minister and now in his 13th year as president. "His relationship with Erdogan, which is pretty strong, is consistent with what seems to be a pattern of his preference," said Philip Gordon, who served as national security adviser for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"It has often been pointed out he seems to have better relationships with adversaries and autocrats, and he certainly says nicer things about them than with allies." Gordon, now at the Brookings Institution, added, "Erdogan is taking full advantage of it." Erdogan snubbed Biden but bets on Trump, who is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit, will be the first U.S. president to visit Turkey since Democrat Barack Obama in 2015. By contrast, Democratic President Joe Biden kept Erdogan at arm's length over Turkey's democratic backsliding and close ties to Russia. Opposition parties and human rights organizations have accused Erdogan of undermining democracy and curbing freedom of expression. They say baseless investigations and prosecutions of human rights activists, journalists, opposition politicians and others remain a persistent problem in Turkey. Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute said Erdogan and Trump "clicked" personally during Trump's first term. When Biden extended an invitation in 2024 for Erdogan to visit the U.S. after Turkey endorsed Finland and Sweden's NATO membership, Erdogan decided not to go. "That was Erdogan's way of signaling to Trump, 'Hey, you are going to probably win the elections,'" Cagaptay said. "I think Trump saw that as a giant gesture." Trump signals steps toward jet sales for Turkey During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte last week, a reporter asked Trump whether he was taking "a big gift bag for Erdogan" on the trip, noting that Ankara wants F-110 jet engines and F-35 fighter jets. "Yeah, I think so," Trump responded. "Yeah, I'm going to probably do something that's going to make him very happy." Trump had also suggested September that the U.S. could soon start selling F-35s to Turkey. Turkey was barred from the program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.
The BriefWire