International Media: There was no Biden-Erdogan chemistry, nor did the ice break

Maybe the long-awaited meeting between the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the President of the United States Joe Biden to go almost as expected, that is, εις zero to the quotient, even if Erdogan went so far as to claim that “we believe there are no issues in US-Turkey ties”, but none of the big issues poisoning the two countries’ ties has not been resolved, the site comments in its analysis Al Monitor.

Both leaders said the 90-minute meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels had gone “very well”, but the reality was different. The deepest “wound” in their relationship is the acquisition of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system by Turkey, for which Ankara has already paid a heavy price, such as a US arms embargo and an exit from the US-Turkish consortium of fifth-generation F-35 fighters. According to the report, Western diplomats who attended the summit said that Erdogan had adopted an unusually subdued tone throughout the work, giving assurances that Turkey is a loyal and important NATO ally.

“Only Britain is on Erdogan’s side”

“There was no chemistry with Biden, nor was the ice broken.” said a senior Western official who spoke to Al Monitor on condition of anonymity. The official added that Biden has “adopted a very strong stance against authoritarianism” which also concerns the North Atlantic Alliance. Erdogan and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Victor Orban, both are seen as heads of authoritarian governments, while the president of Poland Andrei Duda tends in this direction.

“Erdogan tried to present the meeting as a success, telling reporters that he had invited Biden to Turkey and that Biden had said he would go there as soon as his agenda was clarified. But he gave no indication that Biden had invited him to the United States. The Turkish president said he would travel to the United States to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly in September and to inaugurate a Turkish cultural center in New York. Erdogan no longer enjoys “immunity”, except for the British who are openly in favor of the Turks, in everything, even the S-400s. “Despite their anti-Russian stance,” the Western official said.

THE Nicholas Danforth, lead Researcher at ELIAMEP and Visiting Researcher at the German Marshall Fund, commented “So far the development is exactly what is expected, and says little about the substance. “Ankara had a good opportunity for photos and continues to pretend that there is some positive momentum.”

At best, in the background both leaders expressed a desire not to aggravate their already significant differences. “The real question is how long can this convenient balance of illusion and dysfunction last?” Danforth said. «“If they really had an honest meeting, they would not solve the problems, but at least they could help prevent the emergence of young people.”

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