Erdogan-Biden meeting have implications for Middle East

Mahmud al-Batakoshi

Tension tinged with caution prevail relations between Washington and Ankara.

This was especially manifest during the latest meeting of US President, Joe Biden, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The meeting did not produce any tangible progress in relations between the two countries, except for some diplomatic assurances to improve relations in the future.

Meanwhile, outstanding differences between the two countries remained unresolved. This raised concerns about the exacerbation of these differences in the future.

The two sides are still far apart regarding the problems that afflicted their relationship recently.

The Turkish president said he discussed with President Biden the issue of F-35 and the supply of F-16 fighter jets.

He added that the two sides decided to strengthen economic relations to raise their bilateral trade to $100 billion.

Erdogan noted that he agreed with President Biden on increasing co-operation in the political process in Syria, the elections in Libya and the East Mediterranean region.

“Of course, we had the opportunity to consult on the steps to be taken in the context of the NATO alliance and strategic partnership,” Erdogan said.

He added that Turkey had made a payment of $1.4 billion for F-35 jets.

He added that he and President Biden also negotiated the supply of F-16 planes.

“I did not see any negative attitude from the Americans this regard,” Erdogan said.

He quoted President Biden as saying that there might not be results soon.

American procrastination

American apathy in this regard probably reflects concerns in the White House over Russian S-400 missiles, as well as Erdogan’s earlier threat to expel the ambassadors of ten Western countries, including of the US, for issuing a statement calling for the release of a Turkish businessman.

Erdogan then backed down and withdrew his threat.

He also removed restrictions on democratic institutions and curbed human rights violations in his country.