Donald Trump has made it clear that he’s attending this year’s NATO summit in Ankara for one reason only: “respect for President Erdogan.” Trump told NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte last month that if it hadn’t been for the veteran Turkish President’s invitation, “I don’t think I would have gone to it.”
NATO’s summit will, therefore, be dominated by the alliance’s two most militarily powerful and at the same time most problematic members. Trump seems set on pursuing his long-held goal of making Europe pay for its own defense, while Erdogan is determined to leverage his strategic relationship with the US, Russia and Ukraine to scrap restrictions on Turkish purchases of US military hardware. Top of Erdogan’s agenda is being allowed to buy F-35 fighter jets, plus overturning sanctions on Turkish arms companies mandated in the US’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. Those sanctions, intended to punish countries for dealing with Russia’s defense industry, were originally passed in 2017 by… Donald Trump.
Turkey has now truly become NATO’s – and America’s – indispensable ally
These days, however, Erdogan is firmly back on Trump’s list of best friends. The bromance reached a high point last September when Erdogan visited the White House. “We’ve been friends for a long time,” said Trump. “Even for four years when I was in exile, unfairly, as it turns out. Rigged election, you know? He knows about rigged elections better than anybody.” He also praised Erdogan as “a tough man… highly opinionated.” Trump appointed Tom Barrack, a personal friend and former chairman of his inauguration committee, as ambassador to Turkey – while Erdogan, for his part, has paid lip service to Trump by joining his “Board of Peace” to oversee the Gaza ceasefire. Trump has turned a blind eye to Turkey’s assault on Syrian Kurds, while Turkey has agreed to stay out of the Iran conflict – which Trump has chalked up as a personal diplomatic win even though there was no indication that Ankara had any intention of getting involved.
