ISTANBUL (Al Jazeera) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is travelling to New York City, knowing he has been dealt a promising hand for improving ties with the U.S. thanks to developments in Afghanistan.
At the start of the year, then prospective U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken derided Ankara as a “so-called” partner to the United States over Turkey’s purchase of Russian missiles.
Fast-forward to last month – after the Taliban took the Afghan capital ahead of the U.S. withdrawal – and Blinken tweeted that Turkey was “an important NATO ally and an invaluable partner in the region”.
While Erdogan’s trip to New York is principally to attend the General Assembly, a meeting with Biden would be an opportunity for the latest reset in U.S.-Turkey ties.
After Biden came to office in January, he waited three months before speaking to Erdogan as the new White House displayed its ire at Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 air defense system.
The fallout centers on Washington’s insistence that the Russian system is incompatible with NATO’s defenses and specifically that it could gather secrets about the F-35, a next-generation stealth fighter jet that Turkey had been part of developing.
The acquisition of S-400s saw Turkey kicked off the fighter program in 2019 and U.S. sanctions were later imposed on senior Turkish defense officials.
The row adds to other disputes between the two states.
Turkey is unhappy with U.S. support for Kurdish militants in northeast Syria it says are tied to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a 37-year battle for Kurdish rights against Turkey that has killed tens of thousands.
It also demands the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding a 2016 coup attempt, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years. Gulen denies the accusations against him.
More important for the U.S. is Turkey’s prolonged flirtation with Russia, most clearly encapsulated in the S-400 issue.
One possible olive branch the U.S. could offer over the S-400s would be to agree to Ankara’s suggestion of a joint committee to manage the dispute.