“Turkey’s opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and the recent rhetoric of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have almost blown up the effort to reach an agreement with Congress on the purchase of new F-16s,” said Professor Howard Eissenstat. East at St.Lawrence University.
“Before Ankara blocked the participation of Sweden and Finland, the chances of the F-16 deal moving forward were better than ever,” Eissenstat said in an interview with Turkish Trends.
There was a good chance the Biden administration could sell the deal as a national interest to Congress, but now, no one can imagine, Eissenstat added.
“I am impressed by how badly this is developing in terms of Turkey’s desire to restore relations with the United States.”
Last year, Turkey formally requested the purchase of 40 of its latest F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, after Washington expelled it from its F-35 purchase program and imposed sanctions on in response to the acquisition of Russian S-400 air-to-air missiles for $ 2.5 billion in 2019. In a March 17 letter to Congress, the State Department said a possible sale of the aircraft would be to the United States and the long-term unity of NATO.
“If we go back two or three weeks earlier, the Biden government was clearly trying to find a way to rebuild and preserve what was left of the Turkey-US relationship,” Eissenstat said.
But regardless of what Biden wants, Turkey’s aggressive stance in the eastern Mediterranean, and in particular its current vetoes in Finland and Sweden, have dramatically reduced Turkey’s already low position in Congress, he continued.
Turkey is blocking Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, saying the two countries must stop supporting Kurdish “terrorists” on their territory and lift the arms embargo on Ankara.
What Erdogan does not really understand is how Congress works and its role, Eissenstat said.
Turkey believes that the United States is misunderstanding how valuable Turkey is and that in the end Turkey is in the lead, according to the analyst. “The United States needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the United States, in the view of the Turkish elite.”
Eissenstat said that Turkish foreign policy decisions are largely focused on the presidency, not on the Foreign Ministry and professional diplomats: “And for that reason, I think Turkey’s decision has to do with some ambitions the foreign policy and internal ambitions of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) “.
Erdogan sees a benefit from the harsh rhetoric, saying Turkey’s needs must be met and it never hurts Turkish policy to consider the Turkish president following a “tough” foreign policy line, the analyst added.
Petros Kranias
Source: Capital
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