2023-07-08 06:21:53
What are the files that impose themselves on the meeting between Biden and Erdogan?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, next Tuesday and Wednesday.
A US official said that it is possible to hold a “side” meeting between the two presidents, while Archyde.com quoted a source, whom it did not specify by name, that it is likely that a brief meeting will be held between Biden and Erdogan during the summit, and preparations for that are now underway.
And with the escalation of Western pressure on Turkey regarding Sweden’s membership in NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Friday that his country “will make the best decision.” Erdogan said, hours before receiving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul: “We will discuss this with our partners at the summit that will be held on Tuesday in Vilnius, and we will make the best decision, whatever it may be.”
The Turkish president, who has been blocking Sweden’s accession to NATO since May 2022 by accusing it of harboring Kurdish fighters on its soil, indicated that he supports the “open door policy.” But he asked, “How can a country that does not distance itself from terrorist organizations have contributions to NATO?”, as quoted by the French Press Agency.
stuck files
A group of important files, which constitute outstanding issues between Ankara and Washington, impose themselves on the meetings between the two presidents and in the consultations between the officials of the two countries. It is preceded by 3 files; It is the American support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition, which Turkey considers an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist organization, in Syria, and considers it a threat to its security and is engaged in continuous fighting against it in northern Syria that witnesses an escalation from time to time.
Supporters of the Kurdish “People’s Protection Units” during the funeral of two fighters killed by a Turkish raid in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, on June 21 (AFP)
On the other hand, Washington does not give up its support for the Kurdish forces, which it considers the closest ally in the war against the terrorist organization “ISIS”, and continues to support and supply it with weapons.
As for the second pending issue, it is the US administration’s failure to take steps regarding the “Fethullah Gulen Organization,” or the “service” movement of the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who has been residing in Pennsylvania since 1999 as a self-imposed exile, and Ankara has been demanding his extradition since the failed coup attempt on 15 March. July 2016 as the mastermind of the attempt, as well as handing over the movement’s elements and stopping its activities in America.
Successive US administrations, since the administration of former President Barack Obama, have rejected Turkish claims in this regard, stressing that it is a matter related to the judiciary, and demanding that Ankara provide compelling evidence of the Gulen movement’s involvement in the coup attempt.
As for the third issue, it is Turkey’s acquisition of “F-16” fighters, which since October 2021 had requested 40 of them, in addition to 80 equipment for modernizing its old fighters of the same type, after refusing to obtain the “F-35” fighters and imposing Some sanctions against it for obtaining the Russian S-400 air defense system.
Despite Biden’s support for Turkey’s acquisition of the fighters, he recently linked it to its approval of Sweden’s request to join NATO, in addition to the US Congress taking the same position.
NATO headquarters in Brussels (AP)
Sweden and NATO file
It is expected that Sweden’s request to join NATO will be the most prominent item in the talks, and that the US side will focus mainly on it, in light of Washington’s continued pressure on Ankara to ratify the request as soon as possible.
Biden expressed great support for Sweden’s accession to NATO, in his meeting with its Prime Minister Olaf Christerson, at the White House, on Wednesday, saying that he was “impatiently” looking forward to ratifying the membership request, which I “fully support.”
Biden previously linked the files of Sweden’s accession to Turkey’s acquisition of F-16 fighter jets during a phone call to Erdogan last June to congratulate him on winning the presidency.
Turkey is facing pressure from America and many of its NATO allies to accept Sweden’s accession to the alliance before or during the Vilnius summit, after neighboring Finland joined on April 4.
Erdogan strongly opposes Sweden’s request to join the alliance. He said, in statements on Monday night – Tuesday, after the meeting of the Turkish government, that Turkey will not agree to Sweden’s accession to NATO unless it refrains from harboring “terrorist organizations” and stops allowing terrorists to demonstrate in the largest central squares in its cities.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström speaks to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Thursday (AP)
In a phone call, on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, discussed the issue of NATO expansion.
Blinken stressed “the importance of NATO unity at such a critical time, and encouraged Turkey to support Sweden’s accession to the alliance now.”
Before his contact with Blinken, Fidan confirmed Ankara’s refusal to set the NATO summit in Vilnius as a deadline for Sweden’s accession, saying, during the meeting of the Coordinating Office of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries in Baku on Wednesday: “We never agree to use time pressure as a means.”
And Hungary (Hungary), the other country that opposes Sweden’s accession, announced that it would support any decision taken by Turkey in this regard.
Fidan renewed his criticism of the Swedish authorities allowing an extremist of Iraqi origin to burn a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the central mosque in Stockholm on the first day of Eid al-Adha.
Intensify the pressure
And the political analyst, Parchin Yeninch, saw that Sweden was present in every statement about Turkey from the United States after the elections that Turkey witnessed last May, and that all relations between the two countries were reduced in the matter of Sweden’s obtaining NATO membership before or during the Vilnius summit, While Ankara is still not convinced that the Scandinavian country has taken sufficient steps.
She argued that after this time, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to complete the process of ratifying Sweden’s application and formalizing its membership at the Vilnius summit.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that he would hold a meeting with Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christson, Monday, in Vilnius, on the eve of the alliance summit.
The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization speaks to reporters at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday (AFP)
Stoltenberg said, in a press conference, following the fifth meeting of the permanent joint mechanism between Turkey, Finland and Sweden, in Brussels, on Thursday, that they “agreed that Sweden’s inclusion in NATO is in the security interest of all allied countries, and that they want to complete its full membership as soon as possible.”
Stoltenberg considered that Sweden’s survival outside NATO serves only Russia and the “PKK”. He stressed that at the Vilnius summit, “we will recommit to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” saying that he will hold a meeting with Erdogan and Christerson in Vilnius, on Monday, “as a next step in this process.”
Stoltenberg considered the Swedish judiciary’s conviction, for the first time, of an accused of collecting royalties for the terrorist “PKK” and sentencing him, Thursday, to 4 and a half years in prison, as an example of how organized crime in Sweden is closely linked to terrorist organizations in Turkey.
Ankara acknowledges that Sweden has taken an important step against the “PKK” and its affiliates, referring to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in Syria, but says that it must do more to stop the activities of its members and their protests against Turkey and its President Erdogan.
And regarding the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an in front of the Stockholm Central Mosque by an extremist of Iraqi origin on Eid al-Adha, and whether he believes that Sweden can have an effective mechanism to combat terrorism or that it will be a burden on NATO, Stoltenberg said that Sweden “followed up on its obligations” under The tripartite memorandum signed with Turkey and Finland, and that the reason for their meeting in Brussels, on Thursday, was to “bridge the gap that we still see.”
From a previous meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg on June 4, 2023 (NATO – dpa)
Turkish insistence
On Thursday, Stoltenberg hosted the fifth meeting of the permanent joint mechanism, which was attended by high-ranking delegations from Turkey, Sweden and Finland, which included foreign ministers, heads of intelligence services and national security advisers in the three countries.
After the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stressed the need for a potential ally not to impose sanctions or restrictions on exports of military supplies to Turkey, in reference to the arms embargo imposed by Sweden among 10 Western countries on Turkey due to the “Peace Spring” military operation that it carried out. Against the “SDF” in northern Syria, in October 2019.
Fidan stressed, in a press conference in Brussels, that the requirements of the tripartite agreement concluded between Turkey, Sweden and Finland must be fulfilled “literally”, explaining that “Sweden has taken steps in terms of legislative changes, but this must be reflected in actions.” He added, “Countries wishing to join NATO are required to take a firm stand on the issue of combating terrorism… The continuation of terrorist organizations’ activities in Sweden renders the legislative changes they have made meaningless for Turkey.” Fidan reiterated that Turkey cannot tolerate the burning of the Holy Qur’an and the insult to the sanctities of Muslims in Sweden.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Stoltenberg discussed with both Fidan and the Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias Bilstrom, the issue of Sweden’s accession to NATO, and the ongoing preparations for the Vilnius Summit.
Fidan also discussed, in another meeting with Bellstrom, at NATO headquarters, ways to withdraw his country’s objections to Sweden’s request.
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