Erdoğan's first meeting with Biden ends with no agreements

• Author: KRISTINA JOVANOVSKI/THE MEDIA LINE
• Published date: 15 June 2021
• Date: 15 June 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Erdoğan said discussions on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels on Monday were "fruitful and sincere" and repeatedly stressed that he hoped there could be future cooperation, including in defense and trade, but provided little detail.

He also told reporters at NATO's headquarters that Biden said he might visit Turkey.

However, Erdoğan also listed several areas of dispute, including US support for Kurdish forces in Syria and Turkey's purchase of Russian weapons, without suggesting any agreements had been reached.

At a press conference after the meeting, Biden said he had a detailed and productive discussion with Erdoğan, adding that their governments would continue to meet.

"I'm confident we'll make real progress with Turkey and the United States," the American president said.

Imdat Oner, a former Turkish diplomat, told The Media Line that regardless of what was discussed during the meeting, Biden would not suggest there was a split within NATO during a summit.

"This was a face-saving meeting for Erdoğan, just to present an image to the world that 'We are still a NATO ally, we are still a US ally," said Oner, who is currently a doctoral candidate in international relations at Florida International University.

Erdoğan has been attempting to improve ties with Western allies as he faces a deteriorating economy, declining popularity at home and isolation abroad.

Relations with the US have a major impact on Turkey's finances, as proved by a 2018 diplomatic row that led to sanctions against Ankara, followed by a meltdown of Turkish currency.

Oner said Erdoğan is hoping to show that he is still working with Biden and is not fully aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Turkish economy is expecting positive rapprochement [with the US] but I'm quite negative on that expectation," said Oner.

Ties between the two countries have become significantly worse on several fronts, with Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 anti-missile defense system as one of the leading reasons.

Erdoğan said on Monday that he brought up previous ideas about Turkey's use of the Russian weapons, which in the past included suggesting a monitoring mechanism.

Aaron Stein, research director at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that would not be good enough for Biden and that Ankara has failed to provide workable solutions.

"I think we have to get used to the fact that this is the status quo. The status quo now is the US isn't going to chase...