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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday as the Republican leader has indicated that the US government’s hold on sales of advanced fighter jets to Ankara may soon be lifted.
During Trump’s first term, the United States kicked out Turkiye, a NATO ally, from its flagship F-35 fighter jet program after it purchased an air defense system from Russia. US officials worried that Turkiye’s use of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system could be used to gather data on the capabilities of the F-35 and that the information could end up in Russian hands.
But Trump last week gave Turkiye hope that a resolution to the matter is near as he announced plans for Erdogan’s visit.
“We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President, including the large scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively,” Trump said in a social media post.
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 White House go-around despite the US-Turkiye relationship often being complicated.
US officials have cited concerns about Turkiye’s human rights record under Erdogan and the country’s ties with Russia. Tensions between Turkiye and Israel, another important American ally, over Gaza and Syria have at times made relations difficult with Turkiye.
Erdogan has made clear he’s eager to see the hold on F-35s lifted.
“I don’t think it’s very becoming of strategic partnership, and I don’t think it’s the right way to go,” Erdogan said in an interview this week on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier.”
Turkish officials say they have already made a $1.4 billion payment for the jets.
President Joe Biden’s administration kept Erdogan, who has served as Turkiye’s president since 2014 and was prime minister for more than a decade before that, at an arm’s length during the Democrat’s four years in office.
The reluctance to engage deeply was borne out of Turkiye’s record of democratic backsliding as well as Ankara’s close ties to Moscow.
Opposition parties and human rights organizations have accused Erdogan of undermining democracy and curbing freedom of expression during his more than two decades in power. International observers say that baseless investigations and prosecutions of human rights activists, journalists, opposition politicians and others remain a persistent problem in Turkiye.
But Trump sees Erdogan as a critical partner and credible intermediary in his effort to find ends to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The Trump administration is also largely in sync with Turkiye’s approach to Syria as both nations piece together their posture toward the once isolated country after the fall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad last December.
Trump and European leaders have followed Erdogan in embracing Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who once commanded a rebel group that was designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump’s chief diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met with Al-Sharaa Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Erdogan has sought to position his country as a point of stability in a tumultuous moment. He believes Turkiye can play an essential role for European security and is able to span geopolitical divisions over Ukraine, Syria and US tariffs that have sparked a global trade war.
Turkiye also believes it has emerged as a credible broker in the Black Sea region, preserving relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
Turkiye is an influential actor in neighboring Syria as the rebel groups it supported during the civil war took power last December. However, the fall of Assad aggravated already tense relations between Turkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.
Trump, for his part, has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be “reasonable” in his dealings with Ankara.
Erdogan on Tuesday took part in a group meeting hosted by Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Trump gathered the leaders of eight Arab and Muslim countries to discuss the nearly two-year-old Gaza war.
The Turkish leader has been sharply critical of Israel’s handling of the war, which was launched after Hamas militants launched an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which 1,200 were killed and 251 were taken captive. Over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and about 90 percent of homes in the territory have been destroyed or damaged.
Erdogan in his Tuesday address at the UN once again laid into Israel, alleging its forces have committed genocide, an allegation rebutted by Israel and United States.
“This is not a fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said. “This is an occupation, deportation, exile, genocide and life destruction, mass destruction policy carried on by invoking the events of October the 7th.”