April 25 2021 Two recent moves by U.S. President Joe Biden have “infuriated” Turkey and fueled tensions between the two countries, Al Jazeera Chinese reported. One was Biden’s announcement that the United States believed that the Ottoman Empire had committed “genocide” against Armenians during the 1915 events, and the other was that the United States excluded Turkey from its plan to deliver advanced F-35s.
The first day of the phone call, the next day on the accusation of genocide
U.S. President Joe Biden reportedly said in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday that the two presidents agreed on “the importance of working together to expand Turkey-U.S. cooperation” and agreed to hold bilateral talks on the basis of the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels.
It was Biden’s first phone call with the Turkish president since he took office on January 20, 2021. Just a day after the call, Biden announced that the United States considered Turkey a “genocide” against Armenia during World War I.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Biden’s statement on Armenians would have “serious consequences” and undermine Turkey’s “mutual trust and friendship” with Washington. Turkey insists there was no genocide, saying both sides “committed atrocities” during the war. It requested the opening of its archives and between Armenian archives and requested historical science experts to conduct an investigation to confirm the presence of victims in Turkey.
Rasul Tucson, leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, referred to Turkey’s strong reaction, saying Biden’s position could lead to “irreparable damage to relations.” Biden’s identification of the Turkish genocide “could impede reconciliation with Armenia,” the sources said.
The U.S. refused to deliver the Turkish F-35 because it bought the Russian system.
On the issue of the F-35, Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency quoted a U.S. defense official as saying: “The U.S. has officially informed Turkey that the U.S. has excluded it from a multinational program to produce fighter jets because of the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles.”
The analysis has pointed out that Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system is a “watershed” event for NATO members, while Washington and Ankara face unprecedented tensions. Turkey paid a direct price for its decision, being excluded from production of the F-35, the fifth-generation newest fighter jet, and the United States insisted that no country possess both Russian and U.S. warplanes.
Turkey had previously paid $1.4 billion to buy 100 fighter jets under a multilateral plan agreement. The U.S. decided in July 2019 to stop delivering fighter jets, and Turkey has been trying in various ways to stay in the F-35 program and considers it illegal to exclude them. Rasul Tucson, leader of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, confirmed that Turkey had responded by appointing lawyers who had been revealed to have commissioned legal and strategic advisory services from the international law firm Arnold porter to obtain and recover the money paid from the United States.
In December 2020, outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey under the U.S. Hostile Countries Sanctions Act, including four officials from Turkey’s defense industry, and denied Turkey more than $10 million in defense loans.
During the campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden promised to urge Turkey to abandon the Russian S-400 system or impose tough sanctions on it, denouncing its arms policy. But Turkey insists on a Russian system and is seeking a second contract with Russia.
How will Turkey’s difficult choice between Russia and the United States counter the United States? 】
Given that neither side can back down, the analysis suggests that Turkey must make a difficult choice between the Russian system and U.S. warplanes. This is much more complicated than comparing directly the choice between two strategic weapons that require Ankara.
Selçuk Bayraktar, technical director of Turkey’s Baykar Defense Industries and chief engineer of Turkey’s drone program, said the U.S. decision would be a “huge boost” for Turkey’s defense industry to accelerate its unmanned fighter program, which aims to make its first flight of a home-made drone fighter in 2023.
Bayraktar argues that the cost of supplying, operating, maintaining and continuing local aircraft will be lower than that of F-35s, and that “the purchase of any aviation system from outside Turkey will leave them vulnerable to severe restrictions when used independently”.
“The withdrawal of Turkey from the project will not harm the country, but will benefit it and encourage it to produce the latest defense products,” Tucson said. In fact, every time an exporter imposes sanctions on Turkey, Turkey quickly produces and uses its experience in the defense industry to produce advanced fighter jets.”
In this context, a special source at the Turkish presidential office’s communications office told Al Jazeera.com that the U.S. move “will lead to the opposite outcome and weaken relations damaged by a series of differences.”
The source said some of the measures Turkey had prepared in response to the U.S. move “include the closure of the Inkilik base and the opening of a Turkish consulate in the city of Shusha, which Azerbaijan has recovered from the recent war, and a boycott of U.S. goods.” Finally, a claim action was brought before the International Court of Justice regarding the role of the United States in the ‘attempted coup’ of 15 July”.
“The U.S. is ignoring Turkey, but in the next few days it will need Turkey and will regret its actions,” said Ahmed Uisal, director of the Center for Middle East Studies. The world is undergoing a fundamental shift, and America’s demand for Turkey will be stronger than Turkey’s demand for the United States. ”
