Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
In a high-stakes Oval Office meeting on Thursday, President Donald Trump signaled a potential reset in U.S.-Turkey relations, suggesting that American sanctions on Ankara could soon be lifted and that Turkey might once again be allowed to purchase advanced U.S. fighter jets. However, Trump also applied pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end his country’s purchases of Russian oil, a critical source of funding for Moscow amid its ongoing war in Ukraine.
The meeting marked Erdogan’s first visit to the White House in nearly six years and came amid growing hopes in Ankara that a second Trump administration would prove more favorable to Turkish interests than President Joe Biden’s tenure, which was marked by a cool diplomatic distance and lingering tensions over Turkey’s defense ties with Russia.
Seated beside Erdogan in the Oval Office, Trump praised the Turkish leader as a “very tough man” and emphasized their longstanding personal rapport, a relationship Erdogan is eager to leverage as Turkey navigates regional instability and seeks to boost its defense capabilities.
“We’ve always had a very good relationship,” Trump told reporters. “I think he’ll be successful in buying the things he wants to buy,” he added, referencing Ankara’s long-standing interest in acquiring U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, from which Turkey was previously barred.
A Complicated History, a Possible New Chapter
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Turkey after it proceeded with the purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system — a move seen as incompatible with NATO’s defense systems. The sanctions not only strained bilateral ties but also resulted in Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program, despite being both a buyer and a manufacturing partner in the initiative led by Lockheed Martin.
Now, with Trump back in office, Ankara is hoping to reset that relationship. While the S-400 issue still looms large, Turkish officials are optimistic that Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy and his softer stance on Russia might offer an opening for renewed arms cooperation.
Erdogan confirmed to Turkish media that defense matters, including the blocked F-35s and ongoing negotiations over 40 F-16 fighter jets, were central to his agenda for the visit. “Our region is facing rising security threats,” Erdogan said, citing concerns in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. “It is essential that Turkey, as NATO’s second-largest army, continues to modernize its air power.”
Pressure Over Russian Oil
Despite the warm optics, Trump did not shy away from pressing Erdogan on a sensitive issue: Ankara’s continued import of Russian oil. Turkey, along with Hungary and Slovakia, remains one of the few European buyers of Russian crude a lifeline for Moscow’s wartime economy.
“I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Trump said, in a rare public rebuke during the meeting.
Washington has been trying to undercut Russia’s energy revenues through sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and Turkey’s cooperation is seen as essential to the broader Western strategy of isolating Moscow economically.
Aligning on Syria, Divided Over Gaza
Despite their history of friction particularly over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, which Ankara considers terrorists, Trump and Erdogan appear to be increasingly aligned on the future of Syria. Both leaders now support the central government in Damascus, signaling a shift in policy that may ease one of the most significant sources of bilateral tension in recent years.
However, deep divisions remain over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, calling them a “genocide”, rhetoric that has drawn condemnation in Washington. While the issue did not dominate the official agenda, it remains a potential flashpoint in an otherwise warming relationship.
Religious Freedom and Regional Diplomacy
In a gesture aimed at improving relations with the European Union and Greece, Erdogan said he is prepared to take steps to reopen the Halki Seminary an Orthodox Christian theological school shut down by Turkish authorities in 1971. The closure has long been a point of contention in Turkey’s relations with the Christian Orthodox world and a stumbling block in its EU accession talks.
“We are ready to do whatever is needed from us,” Erdogan told reporters, suggesting the seminary, located on Heybeliada Island near Istanbul, could soon begin accepting students again. The move could ease longstanding tensions with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose spiritual leader, Bartholomew I, also visited Trump in Washington earlier this month.
The patriarch expressed hope during his U.S. trip that the school could reopen as early as next year a prospect that, if realized, would mark a rare thaw in Turkey’s often strained relations with the Christian minority and the broader European community.
A Transactional Path Forward
Both leaders are known for their strongman images and combative political styles, and their latest meeting reflected a shared interest in transactional diplomacy, one focused less on shared values and more on pragmatic cooperation.
For Erdogan, re-engaging Trump represents an opportunity to break out of the diplomatic isolation he has faced in recent years, particularly with Europe and under the Biden administration. For Trump, Turkey offers a strategically vital NATO partner, a lucrative defense market, and a potential ally in reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Whether this meeting leads to concrete policy shifts remains to be seen. But the symbolism was unmistakable: two leaders, both embattled at home and on the world stage, seeking to revive a complicated but mutually beneficial alliance.
