By Admin 
US President Donald Trump has announced that on September 25, he will host Turki President Recep Tayip Erdogan at the White House. This journey is considered special because it will be Erdogan’s first official bilateral journey after 2019. Recently, the two leaders met in New York at the United Nations General Assembly and this Washington talks are considered to be the next step of the same.
The biggest controversy between the US and the Turki is with the F-35 fighter jet program. In 2019, the Turki bought the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, after which the US excluded Turkes from the F-35 program citing security reasons. Despite this, the Turki has been continuously expressing a desire to return to this program. Experts believe that this time also there will be no major progress on F-35. Defense expert Professor James A. Russell says that focusing on F-16 for Turki is a more practical option as F-35 is the most expensive and disputed project in American military history.
How are the relationship between America and Turki?
An important agenda of this meeting will also be business. There was a time when the Turki was considered to be the most important regional ally in America, but now the atmosphere has changed. The influence of America is decreasing in the Middle East, while the Turki is no longer dependent on Western countries but is also having a strong relationship with Russia and other countries. Erdogan’s strategy is to balance both America and Russia. Professor Russell believes that Erdogan will try to please Trump through economic agreements, but at the strategic level, the US-Turkio relations are no longer the same.
Erdogan has gone to make himself a Khalifa!
The importance of Turki is not limited to military deals only. President Erdogan has openly questioned Israel’s action in Gaza and US policy many times. This indicates that the Turkas want to install themselves as a regional intermediary. Criticism will also remain under the backdrop of this journey supply of US weapons and financial assistance to Israel.
Future direction
This meeting can lead to many possible results. The biggest step can be of progress on the F-16 deal, where America may agree to supply modern F-16 aircraft to Turkas. Along with this, Boeing aircraft procurement and other economic agreements will also be on the agenda. At the political level, the Turkas will try to strengthen themselves as a regional force, keeping the balance between the US and Russia.
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