DW: Turkey is “watching” Mitsotakis’ visit to Washington

Ankara is closely following the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the United States. The Mitsotakis-Biden meeting was broadcast live by Turkish media and the correspondents stressed that “Greece and its prime minister are doing a performance and a show of strength”. They note that the manner of the reception and the speech in the Congress show the importance that Greece has today on Washington’s agenda.

At the same time, Ankara is trying to get the green light from Congress to buy US F-16 fighter jet upgrade kits, to pave the way for the purchase of new aircraft. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu is currently in the United States, where he is expected to meet with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken. In the meantime he had a telephone communication with the G.G. of NATO.

Haggling over Sweden and Finland  continues

At the same time, the oriental bazaar-style haggling that has started on the occasion of the application of Sweden and Finland to join NATO is holding up well. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last night, essentially taking the baton from Çavuşoglu, told the Foreign Ministers of Finland and Sweden not to work hard in Turkey to persuade him not to veto. Saying clearly what is the essential object of the Turkish opposition to the accession of these two countries: “Countries that are imposing sanctions on a member state can not join now.” Ankara’s goal is to lift the informal embargo imposed by Sweden and Finland (and others) on non-use of weapons against the Kurds, as well as the purchase of German submarines and F-16 fighter jets from the United States.

Erdogan recalled Greece’s reintegration into the NATO military wing with the consent of Turkey, adding that he would not make the same mistake. The result of Turkey’s stance so far is that Sweden and Finland will eventually send diplomatic missions to Ankara, canceling Foreign Ministers’ visits. It seems that the impasse in which Turkey-NATO relations have entered with the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles will continue to be a headache for Erdogan, until some common ground is found with Washington.