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Biden-Erdogan summit: First test of how the new president handles autocrats
6/11/2021
U.S. President Joe Biden has made it quite clear that Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t exactly his favorite world leader.
His first telephone call with the Turkish president occurred three months after Biden took office and mainly addressed the American’s plan to declare the slaughter of Armenians a century ago genocide, which Biden indeed declared a few days later. Erdogan gritted his teeth, condemned the declaration as expected and warned that it would “impose an additional burden on relations between the two countries.
Those who have heard the Turkish leader’s over-the-top reactions to other countries that have recognized the Armenian genocide – severing relations and in some cases imposing sanctions – might have been left with the impression that this time Erdogan was turning the other cheek.
On Monday he’s due to have his first face-to-face meeting with the man who has called him a dictator and declared during the election campaign that he knew how to handle Erdogan. Taking place on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Brussels, the meeting will let the two leaders explore how they can repair bilateral ties.
Erdogan has already raised expectations, telling a newspaper that he believed a new era in bilateral relations was about to begin. The Turkish media has been reporting on proposals for resolving disputes between the two countries and notes that American criticism of Turkey’s domestic affairs has stopped.
The nationalist journalist Ibrahim Karagul, who has devoted numerous columns in the newspaper Yeni Safak to criticizing the United States, especially Biden, wrote this week that all Turks who believe in “Turkey first” had to unite and stand strong against international intrigues and false propaganda aimed at weakening the country. They had to “put up their dukes” because Turkey is coming back stronger than ever. The words “United States” and “Biden” were never mentioned.
Yeni Safak’s website too is controlled by Albayrak Holding, whose owners are very close to Erdogan. The content appearing in its media outlets reflects the radical steam of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, the AKP. Blaming the international community for persecuting Turkey and the sense of “supremacy” in Karagul's article this week echo the things Erdogan used to say in public.
They also express confidence in Turkey’s ability to resist pressure and the intrigues of those who fear the power of the Turkish state. It’s the same spirit that Erdogan has sought in battling the country’s deep economic crisis, which has seen the lira collapse, unemployment soar to 13.9 percent (double among the young) and inflation climb to 17 percent in May. It’s also the spirit that Erdogan plans to bring to his meeting with Biden.
Russian missiles
At the same time, Erdogan is showing restraint. Unlike Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared he would counter Iran “even if it leads to friction with the United States,” Erdogan will be trying to convince Biden that Turkey is a strategic asset, not a burden – that Washington must recognize Turkey’s special status as a bridge between East and West and that Erdogan has no intention of breaking with NATO or Washington to strengthen ties with Russia and Iran.
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Gautam