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- Demonstration flight: The United States has not yet returned Turkey to the F-35 program
Demonstration flight: The United States has not yet returned Turkey to the F-35 program
Recep Erdogan once again reminded Donald Trump that Ankara had paid for the supply of F-35 fighter jets, but had not received either the planes or the money spent. Although the Turkish Foreign Ministry calls the president's visit to the White House "very productive and successful," the actual results of the two leaders' contacts are not impressive. Turkey made big concessions, receiving only more demands in return. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
They paid and didn't receive it.
"I reminded Trump that we have already paid for the F-35. We are currently monitoring how events will develop," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a few days after returning from Washington.
The last time the Turkish leader flew to the United States was six years ago and, as they say in his entourage, he was very looking forward to meeting with the US president. Ankara and Washington have accumulated a lot of issues that require immediate resolution.
Increased attention was focused on these negotiations — if successful, "this could lead to an unprecedented increase in defense industry cooperation between the two long-standing allies," Bloomberg predicted.
In the run-up to the meeting, well-known journalists and experts vied with each other on Turkish TV channels, emphasizing the importance of an "exemplary partnership" with the United States, as it used to be called in the republic.
The American leader fueled interest in the meeting, making it clear that it would be promising. He stated that he had "very good" relations with Erdogan, then said that the parties were now working "on a variety of trade and military deals, including a large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major deal on F-16 [fighters], as well as on continuing negotiations on the F-35, which it is expected to end positively."
He went out to meet the Turkish leader in a jacket with a gold fighter jet on the lapel, and called Erdogan a "highly respected man."
In an effort to appease the US president ahead of the talks and expecting friendly steps from him, a few days before his trip to the United States, Erdogan lifted additional tariffs on a number of American goods: tobacco, alcohol, cars, rice, chemical products, solid fuels, fruits, which Ankara imposed in response to similar actions from Washington.
A blow to the cap
Erdogan sought to return the country to the F-35 fighter jet program and achieve the lifting of restrictions imposed under the Countering America's Enemies through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Ankara came under this law six years ago and still has not received the F-35, the first batch of which had been paid for by that time.
As for the F-16, the Republic of Turkey, which is armed with these fighters, plans to modernize them.
However, the meeting at the White House did not bring Ankara the expected results.
Trump clearly made it clear that he was not going to return Turkey to the F-35 program for free or sell engines for Turkish jet fighters to KAAN — Ankara also "has to do something" for this. Obviously, the American leader was referring to the abandonment of the Russian S-400 Triumph air defense systems, due to the purchase of which Turkey fell under the CAATSA.
Instead, the parties agreed on the purchase by Turkish Airlines of 225 aircraft of the American Boeing corporation. Turkey has also agreed to purchase LNG from the United States over the next 20 years and has signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with the United States.
Trump hinted that this is just the beginning and he hopes that in the future the Republic of Turkey will completely reorient itself from Russian energy resources to American ones.
While the Russian Foreign Ministry reacted rather cautiously with the words "We have no doubt that the Republic of Turkey respects itself and its people," the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) demanded an explanation from the authorities. "Is the choice of LNG an attempt to diversify the energy sector or a geopolitical game? Which is more profitable for Turkey: cheap gas from Russia or expensive gas from the United States?" asked MP Zeynel Emre from the rostrum.
The next day, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said that oil is mainly purchased by private companies and they make commercial decisions about their suppliers. The minister stressed that gas purchases from Russia will continue.
So far, the Turkish authorities prefer not to officially summarize the results of Erdogan's visit to Washington. Huseyin Gunay, a correspondent for the Turkish NTV Haber TV channel in Washington, spoke quite succinctly. His reaction to the outcome of the talks between the two leaders was accidentally recorded by the AP news agency. "This meeting did not bring us anything concrete. We got it, but only by the cap," he said. As a result, the journalist was fired from his job — even the fact that his child was born that day did not save him from dismissal.
What do the experts think
Alina Sbitneva, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia that US-Turkish relations are currently undergoing a balancing act.
— They still have not recovered from the crises that began during the first presidential term of Donald Trump. At that time, the American leader's relations with President Erdogan were, to put it mildly, bleak. That stage was marked by harsh remarks against each other and a serious increase in the American spending on steel and aluminum imported from Turkey," the political scientist explained.
According to the expert, what is happening now can be called a continuation of the bargaining.
— The United States does not want to let such a strategically advantageous ally as Turkey go too far away from itself. Ankara, in turn, wants to get maximum preferences for itself. In short, the parties are trying to negotiate the most suitable conditions for further cooperation," the expert believes.
She added that Turkey, judging by the statements of officials, is seeking to resume its participation in the F-35 fighter production program, although US representatives periodically make it clear that as long as Turkey has the S-400 system, this will not work.
"But at the same time, the United States needs Turkey at least as an intermediary to build a dialogue with the same Syrian new authorities, so some concessions are probably theoretically still possible," the analyst believes.
Sbitneva explained that the recent meeting between the two leaders was like checking a clock.
— As for the gas issue, attempts have long been made to pull the Turkish Republic away from Russia, including undermining energy cooperation between the two countries. Turkey is already involved in many gas and, moreover, transport and logistics projects that bypass Russia. Therefore, the purchase of American LNG is a kind of continuation of the plan for the so—called diversification of suppliers," the Turkologist emphasized.
She noted that another issue is the price of such diversification.
— After all, the Turkish opposition is actually asking quite reasonable questions, because in the current economic situation, the financial side is becoming particularly important. The US policy is largely based on the desire to weaken Turkey as much as possible and make it dependent on decisions made in the West again, the political scientist believes.
The collective West understands that this is the only way to manage Ankara in the context of the formation of a polycentric world order and the emergence of new centers of power in general, the expert concluded.
Vladimir Avatkov, Head of the Department of the Near and Post—Soviet East at the INION RAS, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that Turkey is a growing power that wants to be one of the centers of power of the new polycentric world.
— The country strives to be a hub, and not to cry at the broken trough, therefore, despite the US call to abandon the import of Russian energy resources by the republic, Turkey will continue to purchase natural gas from the Russian Federation, — the Turkologist explained.
According to the political scientist, there was no doubt that Ankara would do just that.
"The state, despite all the economic problems, continues to struggle, and as for the outcome of the negotiations in the White House, Ankara has not achieved much, the exemplary partnership turned out to be not so exemplary, although fervent," the analyst concluded.
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