For both NATO and the U.S., Turkey happens to play an active role on a multitude of fronts – whether it’s Russia and China, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), or the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The Erdoğan-Biden meeting helped forge a new climate where Turkish and American officials may engage the tricky topics more constructively.

Erdoğan’s subsequent trip to Shusha, in turn, reflected the new realities of Turkish foreign policy.

Turkish and American politicians, media and the public had been waiting for the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Joe Biden on June 14, on the sidelines of the NATO Leaders Summit in Brussels.

June will be a particularly busy month for Turkey in the international arena. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is due to meet United States President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO Summit on June 14. Later this month, the European Union’s leaders will discuss their “positive agenda” with Turkey.

The national conversation in Turkey remains focused on domestic politics as we get closer and closer to a critical meeting in the international arena where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to meet U.S. President Joe Biden for the first time, on the margins of the June 14 NATO summit.

The week after next, for the first time since his inauguration, United States President Joe Biden will attend diplomatic summits in Europe. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in the first six months of his presidency, Biden only attended high-level summits remotely through videoconferencing.

The statement of U.S. President Joe Biden last Saturday in regards to the 1915 events has generated more tension in bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States. For years now, the issue has been a fault line between the two nations.

One thing is clear: The relationship between Ankara and Washington gradually evolve from the constraints of a traditional alliance. A new modus operandi emerges, which brings together adversity, competition and cooperation.

The PKK terrorists' execution of 13 unarmed Turkish citizens in Gara, northern Iraq, will remain the subject of heated political debate for some time. The debate could have an impact on Turkey's foreign policy if it builds on the political consciousness that awakens following events of this nature and supports our fight against terrorism – rather than the opposition’s accusations.

At the beginning of the week, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

For the last several weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron has been targeting Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his statements about regional developments in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Although it is not uncommon for him to make such undiplomatic positions when it comes to foreign policy, his recent remarks about Turkey demonstrate that his tone is becoming more aggressive than it used to be.

The NATO leaders' meeting went better than expected. In the alliance's final communique, released after talks concluded on Dec. 4, nations reiterated their commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, stressed the importance of financial burden-sharing and underlined their intention to seek a common position regarding migration, as well as a united front on cyber and hybrid threats. Noting Russian aggression as posing a possible threat, NATO members called for dialogue with Moscow on intermediate-range missiles. Furthermore, as per Washington's request, the organization hinted it would be turning its attention to the Asia-Pacific region, in a nod to Beijing's expanding influence.

NATO leaders met in London at a time of uncertainty for the U.K. While the public and British authorities are overwhelmed with the debates on Brexit and getting ready for the parliamentary elections to be held next week, the NATO leaders' summit was held in the British capital to make landmark decisions for the future of the alliance. NATO is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its establishment, and the defense alliance was in search of a new vision and updated agenda.

U.S. governments have been questioning the contribution of the NATO alliance for the last two decades. Although the U.S. pioneered the enlargement of the alliance, it mostly prefers to act unilaterally in its security policy, which creates problems for NATO.

Turkish-American relations are strained again ahead of the delivery of S-400 air defense systems from Russia. In their Moscow meeting at the beginning of the week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the plan to deliver the first set of S-400 air defense systems to Turkey in early July.

Almost every U.S. president has promised, wished or dreamed of revising and recalibrating Washington's relations with Moscow; however, after entering office and attempting to change the trajectory of the bilateral ties, they quickly discover that the task is easier said than done.