US President Joe Biden meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the G20 leaders summit on Oct 31, 2021, in Rome. (EVAN VUCCI / AP)
President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to defuse tensions over Turkey’s failed bid to buy fighter jets from the US at a meeting on Sunday in Rome, focusing instead on their broader defense interests as NATO allies.
“I’ve seen a positive approach from Mr. Biden,” Erdogan told reporters later, saying he urged the US leader to convince Congress to permit the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. They also discussed a dispute over $1.4 billion that Turkey paid for F-35 warplanes that it was subsequently barred from receiving, the Turkish leader said.
US President Joe Biden made clear to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that there was a process underway that Turkey would have to go through for its request to purchase F-16 jets in place of the F-35s, a senior US official who requested anonymity to discuss the meeting said
Even so, the two made little tangible progress beyond an apparent effort to set a floor under tensions that have hurt the lira and unnerved geopolitical watchers.
Biden made clear to Erdogan that there was a process underway that Turkey would have to go through for its request to purchase F-16 jets in place of the F-35s, a senior US official who requested anonymity to discuss the meeting said. Turkey’s possession of a Russian S-400 missile system continues to be a concern for the US Congress and the Biden administration, the official said.
The two leaders spoke for almost an hour on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit. Erdogan said they “emphasized the need” for closer talks between their finance officials as well as between the State Department and the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
The meeting was brought forward from a chat planned for the COP26 summit in Glasgow this week. Erdogan has been eager to talk about the F-16 issue.
“We focused on how we can move this process to a good position based on this payment,” Erdogan said. “The modernization of what we have and the issue of new F-16s came to the fore. Our defense ministers are following the process.”
Biden “underscored his desire to maintain constructive relations, expand areas of cooperation, and manage our disagreements effectively,” the White House said in a statement. “He expressed appreciation for Turkey’s nearly two decades of contributions to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.”
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Washington barred Ankara from purchasing and co-developing the F-35 jets after it bought the Russian air-defense missiles that NATO allies fear could be used to collect intelligence on the plane’s stealth capabilities. Turkey has refused to jettison the S-400 as demanded by Washington.
Jets request
The US has denied making any financing offer over Turkey’s request to purchase F-16s, after Erdogan said that may be a way of returning the $1.4 billion. Turkey said it sent a formal request to the US on Sept 30 to purchase 40 new F-16 Block 70 aircraft and nearly 80 kits from Lockheed Martin Corp to modernize its existing fighters.
A Pentagon delegation visited Ankara on Oct 27 and discussed issues resulting from Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program, which was finalized on Sept 23. A Pentagon statement called the discussions productive, adding a follow-up meeting would happen in Washington in the coming months.
Washington barred Ankara from purchasing and co-developing the F-35 jets after it bought Russian S-400 air-defense missiles that NATO allies fear could be used to collect intelligence on the plane’s stealth capabilities. Turkey has refused to jettison the S-400 as demanded by the US
The meeting also included a discussion of human rights and rule of law, which included Erdogan’s threat – later withdrawn – to expel 10 ambassadors, among them the US envoy, after they protested the indefinite detention of a prominent philanthropist in Turkey.
The leaders also discussed regional security issues including Afghanistan, Syria and Libya as well as combating climate change.
The meeting comes as tensions flare over Syria. Turkey has deployed hundreds more troops in northern Syria in preparation for a long-suspended offensive against American-backed Kurdish forces, Turkish officials said previously, a move that could help Erdogan shore up flagging domestic support and put pressure on the US and Russia to rein in the Kurdish troops.
Earlier this month, Erdogan signaled he was planning a new campaign after attacks by Kurdish YPG forces that Ankara regards as a threat because of their link to Kurdish insurgents in Turkey. He has not specifically declared a military incursion is imminent.
“We expressed our sadness” during the meeting with Biden about US support for the Kurdish “terrorist” groups, Erdogan said. “I believe from now on the process will not continue like this,” he said, without elaborating.
In 2019, Ankara hit the brakes on an earlier planned Syria foray following separate cease-fire agreements with the US and Russia, which both have forces stationed there. But he recently accused both countries of not fulfilling their promises to force the YPG to withdraw at least 30 kilometers from the Turkish border.
The Kurdish forces played a major role in the US-led effort to quell Islamic State in Syria, and Washington’s support for Turkey’s enemy has been a major point of contention. Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group affiliated with the Kurdish separatist PKK, which the Turkish military has been battling for more than three decades and is classified as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.
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Biden “emphasized the importance of strong democratic institutions, respect for human rights, and the rule of law for peace and prosperity,” according to the White House statement.
US Commission on International Religious Freedom chair Nadine Maenza said in a Twitter post late Saturday that “USCIRF is deeply concerned over reports of Turkey’s potential further encroachment into northern Syria.”