What's on table for Erdoğan-Trump meeting?
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in Washington, D.C. today for a highly anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. There are many issues on the two leaders' agenda, including Turkey's procurement of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Washington's relationship with the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian branch and the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
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NATO's crisis in tackling terror threats
French President Emmanuel Macron told The Economist last week that NATO was "brain dead." He blamed the alliance's supposed problem on the lack of "coordination... of strategic decision-making between the United States and its NATO allies." Macron added that Turkey's actions were "uncoordinated," warning that NATO failed to monitor the actions of its members.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday announced his decision to visit Washington. He reached that decision following a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, who invited him.
Turkish-American relations are experiencing the heavy burden of Washington's alliance with the People's Protection Units (YPG), as the YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group, which Turkey has been struggling against for the last four decades. This vision will not change any time soon despite Washington's denial of the PKK-YPG connection. There are many other significant obstacles to the normalization of Turkish-American relations but Washington's flirt with the YPG is the most controversial one.
Another important meeting in Washington between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to be held next week. The state of Turkish-American relations and the crises between the countries make this meeting more critical than any other to date between the two leaders.
U.S. President Donald Trump changed his mind about pulling American troops out of Syria – again. The latest reversal of policy reflects the Pentagon's concerns that the U.S. withdrawal will play into the hands of Russia and Iran. The return of U.S. servicemen to Kobani and Qamishli, and the military buildup in eastern Syria suggest that the White House is on board.
Western otherization and Turkey's response
Turkey initiated a large-scale Westernization project immediately after the declaration of the Republic. It had decided to follow the footsteps of the enemy it had fought during World War I and the Independence War. It introduced many political, economic, even social and cultural reforms during the first two decades of the interwar period. In the wake of World War II, the Soviet threat further paved the way for Turkey's alliance with the West.
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Western media still ignoring PKK attacks
PKK's existence in Turkey, Syria and northern Iraq is the number one national security problem for Turkey. This is the Turkish red line that Western media organs have been refusing to see
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President Erdoğan vowed that Turkey will not stop working until Syria completes its reconstruction process
Last week, anti-Turkey activism in Washington reached new heights. For the last one month, the campaign against Turkey deteriorated the ties between the two countries at the public level. In addition to setting a tone against Turkey in the U.S., it also generated a serious reaction from the Turkish public against the U.S.
From sanctions against Turkey to cooperation with nonstate actors, the U.S. establishment seeks ways to help the PKK form a statelet in the region
The death of the Daesh leader is a significant development in the fight against the terror network. The literature on terror organizations argues that for terror groups utilizing religious discourse and religious framing for collective mobilization, the decapitation, death or imprisonment of leaders is a highly effective intervention.
Turkey's war against Daesh played a crucial role in the defeat of the notorious group and the killing of its leader
The United States has declared that it killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Daesh, after a successful military operation on Oct. 27. The death of Baghdadi will be a new turning point for the struggle against international terrorism and for Middle Eastern politics. The de-territorialization of Daesh was also a turning point, because with de-territorialization, Daesh had lost its claim on a caliphate and statehood. Therefore, in the near future, it has to restructure itself according to the new realities.
Much has been written regarding Ankara's negotiations with Russia and the U.S. and the process and potential outcomes of the accords the countries have reached following intense diplomatic activity.
The PKK/YPG threat in the region is far from over, but the group's nationalist project — the so-called 'cantons' — are now dead in the water
Turkey's legitimate campaign in Syria needs further steps to establish terror-free areas in the region
The U.S. must realize that any activity by the YPG terror group can directly trigger Turkish operations to remove it from the region
Turkey's deals in Syria have provided a great opportunity for a more secure region, but there is still a lot of work to do
In the last seven decades, since the beginning of the strategic relations between Turkey and the U.S., there have been different tensions and crises between the two countries. Observers and historians of Turkish-American relations have defined some of these crises as "turning points" and "critical junctures" that significantly affected the general trajectory of bilateral ties.
Terrorist YPG/PKK's federation claim disappeared, Syria’s territorial integrity protected with agreement, say analysts
