Trump is receiving Turkey

Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump will hold conversations with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, since the Republican leader has indicated that the United States government on sales of advanced aircraft to combat Ankara can soon be lifted.

During Trump’s first mandate, the United States threw Turkey, a NATO ally, of its F-35 flagship flagship program after buying an air defense system in Russia. American officials worried that the use of Turkey from the Superficial Missile System-400 of Russia could be used to collect data on the F-35 capabilities and that the information could end in Russian hands.

But Trump last week gave Turkey the hope that a resolution to the matter will be close when he announced plans for Erdogan’s visit.

“We are working in many commercial and military agreements with the president, including the large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, an important F-16 agreement and a continuation of the F-35 conversations, which we hope to finish positively,” Trump said in a publication on social networks.

The visit will be Erdogan’s first trip to the White House since 2019. The two leaders forged what Trump has described as a “very good relationship” during his first house in the White House despite the fact that the relationship between the United States and Turkey is often complicated.

AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

American officials have cited concerns about the history of human rights of Türkiye under Erdogan and the country’s ties with Russia. Tensions between Türkiye and Israel, another important American ally, on Gaza and Syria sometimes have hindered relations with Türkiye.

Erdogan has made it clear that he is anxious to see the control of the raised F-35.

“I don’t think it’s becoming a strategic association, and I don’t think it’s the right way,” Erdogan said in an interview this week in the “News Channel special report with Bret Baier.”

Turkish officials say they have already made a payment of $ 1.4 billion for Jets.

The administration of President Joe Biden held Erdogan, who served as president of Turkey since 2014 and was prime minister for more than a decade before that, within a reach during the four years of the Democrats in office.

The reluctance of committing deeply was the history of democratic recoil in Türkiye, as well as Ankara’s close links with Moscow.

Opposition parties and human rights organizations have accused Erdogan of undermining democracy and stopping freedom of expression during his more than two decades of power. International observers say that research and prosecutions based on human rights activists, journalists, opposition politicians and others remain a persistent problem in Türkiye.

But Trump sees Erdogan as a credible critical and intermediary partner in his effort to find ends for wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The Trump administration is also largely synchronized with Turkey’s approach to Syria, since both nations gather their position towards the country once isolated after the fall of the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last December.

Trump and European leaders have followed Erdogan to embrace the Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once commanded a rebel group that was designated by a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump’s chief diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met with Al-Sharaa on Monday outside the United Nations General Assembly.

Bing Guan/Pool Photo through AP

Erdogan has tried to position his country as a stability point at a tumultuous moment. He believes that Türkiye can play an essential role for European security and is able to cover geopolitical divisions on the tariffs of Ukraine, Syria and the United States that have caused a world commercial war.

Türkiye also believes that it has become a credible corridor in the Black Sea region, preserving relations with Ukraine and Russia.

Türkiye is an influential actor in neighboring Syria, since the rebel groups that supported during the civil war took power last December. However, Assad’s fall aggravated relations already tense between Türkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests that push the relationship towards a possible collision course.

Trump, on the other hand, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be “reasonable” in his treatment with Ankara.

Erdogan participated on Tuesday in a group meeting organized by Trump outside the United Nations General Assembly. Trump brought together the leaders from eight Arab and Muslim countries to discuss the Gaza War of almost two years.

The Turkish leader has been very critical of war management by Israel, which was launched after Hamas militants launched an attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel in which 1,200 and 251 captives were killed. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, and about 90% of houses in the territory have been destroyed or damaged.

Erdogan, in his speech on Tuesday, at the UN, once again, he lay Israel, claiming that his forces have committed genocide, an accusation refuted by Israel and the United States.

“This is not a fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said. “This is a policy of occupation, deportation, exile, genocide and destruction of life, continued mass destruction invoking the events of October 7.”