{"id":1979121,"date":"2023-07-20T23:57:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T03:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-tilting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-turkey-may-be-turning-back-to-the-west\/"},"modified":"2023-07-21T00:00:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T04:00:43","slug":"after-tilting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-turkey-may-be-turning-back-to-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-tilting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-turkey-may-be-turning-back-to-the-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey&#8217;s shift towards Russia during the Ukraine conflict may now be reversing towards the West."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fafter-tilting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-turkey-may-be-turning-back-to-the-west%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1979121&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Surprising\u2064 Developments in Turkey&#8217;s Relationship with NATO and Russia<\/h2>\n<p>On a U.S. military flight \u2062earlier this month, a delegation of six senators was winging its \u200cway\u2063 to Vilnius,\u200d Lithuania, to attend the crucial NATO leaders\u2019 summit.<\/p>\n<p>The bipartisan group \u2064included Democratic \u200cSens.\u200c Dick Durbin (IL), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and independent Angus King (ME), who caucuses with Democrats.\u200c Along with\u2062 Republican Sens. Pete Ricketts (NE), Dan Sullivan (AK), and Thom\u200d Tillis (NC).<\/p>\n<h3>BIDEN TAKES NEW ACTION ON JUNK FEES, FOOD PRICES, AND CORPORATE MERGERS<\/h3>\n<p>Inevitably,\u2063 the conversation turned to\u2064 the \u200bspoiler role Turkey was playing in blocking Sweden\u2019s bid to join NATO. \u2062Having\u200b Sweden as a member\u2063 would be a big boost for the alliance and an embarrassing setback for Russian President Vladimir\u200c Putin\u2019s stated goal \u200cof limiting NATO\u2019s eastward expansion.<\/p>\n<p>It was a \u201cmajor discussion on the airplane,\u201d King told CNN\u2062 after the summit. \u201cWhat \u200bis Turkey going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Much to their surprise, when the senators\u200b landed in\u200c the Lithuanian\u2064 capital, they \u2064discovered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced he would drop his opposition to Sweden\u2019s accession \u200cto NATO in return\u2064 for Western help to \u200cTurkey\u2019s moribund application \u2062to join the European Union.<\/p>\n<p>It was, King said, \u201ca very important step and one \u2062that very few of us predicted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, longtime NATO ally Turkey, under Erdogan, has been\u200b tilting toward Moscow \u2014 most\u200d notably by purchasing, over \u200dstrident U.S. objections, Russian S-400 air \u2063defense systems incompatible with NATO systems.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, \u2063under the Trump administration, the United States booted Turkey as \u200ba partner \u200bin America\u2019s F-35 stealth \u2063fighter jet program for refusing to give up\u200d the\u2062 Russian anti-aircraft systems, \u200bwhich, if operated near F-35s, \u200dcould compromise the fifth-generation\u200d fighter jet\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-look-at-chinas-new-h-20-stealth-bomber\/\" title=\"A Look at China\u2019s New H-20 Stealth Bomber\">stealth properties<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There\u200d was even talk\u2064 about \u2063whether Turkey, a NATO member for \u200bmore than 60 \u200byears, should remain in the alliance, given its increasingly cozy \u200crelationship with Putin\u2019s Russia.<\/p>\n<p>But buoyed by a narrow reelection victory last \u200bmonth, \u2063which solidified his\u2064 already sweeping presidential powers, and seeing Russia\u2019s military fortunes declining on the battlefields of Ukraine, Erdogan made a\u2062 series of moves he had to know would not please Putin.<\/p>\n<p>Early this month, he warmly welcomed Ukrainian President \u2063Volodymyr \u2064Zelensky\u200c to Turkey.\u2062 And,\u2063 in a surprise move, he turned over five Ukrainian commanders captured \u200dby Russia during the siege \u2062of Mariupol last year.<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov angrily accused Turkey of\u2062 violating an agreement to hold on to\u2064 the prisoners until the end of hostilities.<\/p>\n<p>Instead,\u200d the five\u2062 Azovstal defenders, as they \u200bwere known, \u200breceived a hero\u2019s welcome when they \u200breturned\u200c to Kyiv.<\/p>\n<p>While hosting \u2064Zelensky in Istanbul, Erdogan also voiced\u200c full support for Ukraine \u200bjoining NATO as soon \u2063as the war\u200c with Russia comes to an\u200b end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u200d is no doubt that Ukraine deserves NATO membership,\u201d he said at a news conference with Zelensky.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in\u200c the run-up to the NATO \u2063summit in\u200d Vilnius, thanks in part to President\u2064 Joe Biden\u2019s promise to sell F-16s to Turkey,\u2063 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was\u2063 able \u2062to\u200b broker an agreement whereby Erdogan would \u2064lift his\u2063 objections to \u200dSweden becoming the 32nd NATO nation in\u2062 return\u2063 for \u200dWestern help reviving Turkey\u2019s bid to join\u200d the EU.<\/p>\n<p>In an opinion essay in the \u200cKyiv Independent, freelance journalist \u2063David Kirichenko\u202fgushed about the recent \u200bturn of events sending\u200b a message\u2062 that Erdogan now sees Russia\u200c as \u201cthe sick \u200dman \u2062of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurkey has made it clear that it prioritizes its status as a NATO country \u200dabove\u2064 all else, with its\u2063 commitment to\u2062 the alliance taking precedence over its relations with Russia,\u201d\u200d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Not so fast,\u200c countered Sinan Ciddi, a senior fellow at the \u200bFoundation \u2064for Defense of Democracies, who argued \u2062Erdogan is \u201cjust leveraging a situation to his advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s \u2062necessarily about reanchoring\u200c back to the\u2063 West. It&#8217;s about leveraging policy \u2063goals that he has,\u201d Ciddi told the Washington Examiner. \u201cHis major goal right \u200bnow is basically obtaining F-16 fighter jets and a requisite number of upgrade kits\u2062 for Turkey\u2019s\u200c existing fleet\u2064 because the Turkish Air Force is getting \u2063old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The initial euphoria at NATO \u2064when\u2062 Erdogan agreed to \u200cforward the accession \u200cprotocol for Sweden to \u2064Turkey\u2019s Grand National Assembly was tempered when Erdogan said the next day\u200c that it would wait until the\u200c parliament met in October.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2063 could call \u2062the \u2064Turkish parliament back into session tomorrow if\u2064 he wanted,\u201d\u200b Ciddi said. \u2064\u201cBut I \u2064think he&#8217;s not sure \u200dif Congress is going to deliver and lift\u200b its\u2063 waiver of selling Turkey F-16\u200c jets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Erdogan may have good reason to hedge his bets, \u2063given\u2064 that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has said he wants Turkey to back off\u200d aggressive\u200b acts against its neighbors\u200d \u2014\u2063 in particular,\u200d Greece \u2014 before \u200che lifts his hold on the F-16 sale.<\/p>\n<p>Ciddi argued Erdogan shouldn\u2019t be given \u2064too much \u200dcredit for relenting \u200bon Sweden, \u200dwhich he said is \u201cjust\u200c basically doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If\u2062 Turkey were really\u200c realigning with \u2062the West, Ciddi\u2063 argued, it would be doing a lot more, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-tilting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-turkey-may-be-turning-back-to-the-west\/\" title=\"Turkey's shift towards Russia during the Ukraine conflict may now be reversing towards the West.\">including backing tougher sanctions<\/a> against Russia, divesting itself of Russian S-400 air defense\u2063 systems,\u2062 and joining \u2064the U.S.\u200c in the\u200b fight against the Islamic\u2062 State in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>But Erdogan wants to \u2062maintain\u200c his relations with\u2062 Russia,\u200d which is a \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/germany-rejects-volkswagens-bids-for-investment-guarantees-in-china-due-to-human-rights-concerns\/\" title=\"Germany Rejects Volkswagen\u2019s Bids for Investment Guarantees in China Due to Human Rights Concerns\">major trading partner<\/a> with Turkey, a\u2064 source of\u2063 tourism, and a provider of natural gas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cErdogan is basically throwing an olive branch toward the \u200dWest mainly because he \u200ccan and simply because Putin is\u200b not necessarily in a position to do anything against him because he is in a bit \u200cof a weakened position,\u201d Ciddi said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cErdogan will continue to use this position \u2064to leverage policy\u200b goals out of\u200d Washington &#8230; and he will also leverage his relationship with Russia,\u201d he\u200c said. \u201cIt&#8217;s not \u200deither\/or. It&#8217;s basically leveraging both to the extent that he can for his own material\u200b gains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or, as King put it, \u201cErdogan is\u2063 a transactional kind of \u200cguy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sullivan (AK), and John Barrasso (WY), they flew to Vilnius, Lithuania for the NATO summit. The delegation consisted of six senators, including Democrats Durbin, Shaheen, and King, and Republicans Ricketts, Sullivan, and Barrasso.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1979122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1979121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1979122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}