- Turkish President Erdoğan looks desperate to get Biden’s attention, officials told Insider.
- He replaced senior officials unpleasant to the United States and offered negotiations on the F-35 program.
- Turkey’s state-owned bank faces money laundering charges in New York, which may explain Erdoğan’s motives.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has in recent weeks taken a series of measures that appear to appease the United States in a desperate attempt to get the attention of President Joe Biden – which he is not achieving, diplomats and officials told Insider.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week that Biden would call Erdoğan “at some point”, but gave no details.
Since Biden won the election, Erdoğan has replaced a number of unpleasant senior officials in the United States and offered negotiations to break an impasse in the arms deal.
Then Vice President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential complex in Ankara, Turkey in 2016.
Kayhan Ozer / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
Days after the 2020 election, when it became clear that Biden had won, Erdoğan replaced two senior officials widely regarded by the US and the EU as loyal, with close ties to corruption and economic mismanagement. They are Murat Uysal, who was dismissed on 7 November as governor of Turkey’s central bank, and Berat Albayrak, the finance and treasury minister who resigned on 9 November. Albayrak is also Erdoğan’s son-in-law.
In February, Turkey also offered negotiations to break the impasse over the F-35 program, in which the United States, under former President Donald Trump, ended Turkey’s role in making the war plane after Erdoğan refused to cancel the purchase of the S-400 from Russia. aerial missiles.
But Biden ignored Turkey’s offer proposal, with the Pentagon saying his government would continue the policy of excluding Turkey from the weapons program.
An F-35 Lightning II from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, lands at RAF Lakenheath, England, in April 2017.
US Air Force / 1st Class Aviator Abby L. Finkel
A European diplomat said Erdoğan’s actions show that Biden would not turn a blind eye to his actions, as Trump did.
“It is so predictable,” said an EU diplomat based in Ankara, who could not be identified for security reasons, but whose identity is known to the Insider.
“Trump treated all these guys … Erdoğan, Putin, Bibi … like colleagues, and everyone started to believe that they were somehow,” added the source, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two other strong men.
Why Erdoğan wants to be on the bright side of Biden
Several officials interviewed by Insider pointed to the impending trial of Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, which is expected to take place this month in the Southern District of New York, as Law.com reported last year.
Halkbank is accused of allowing Iran to launder tens of billions of dollars in cash, gold and oil via Turkey to avoid U.S. sanctions, while under the protection of Erdoğan’s close allies.
A former bank executive, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, resigned this week as chairman of the Istanbul Stock Exchange – a position that infuriated American officials, as Atilla had been convicted in 2018 in New York for his role in the bank and sentenced to 28 months in prison.
Erdoğan had previously denounced the investigations as politically motivated.
The impending Halkbank trial – which risks a potential fine of tens of billions of dollars and Turkey’s access to threatened international money transfer systems – shows how much Erdoğan needs to make peace with the new government.
Referring to Turkey’s Halkbank scandal, the EU diplomat said: “The Turks think Trump doesn’t really care, because of course he didn’t. But Biden worries and Biden knows who has real power in the relationship and now Erdoğan is waiting for the phone waiting for a call with almost two months to go. ”
“Erdoğan should have used the sympathetic Trump administration to resolve and end this situation, but he was arrogant and decided that he could ignore it completely,” added the source.
“Now he needs to deal with Biden on several issues, but the one where Turkey is most obviously guilty remains on the table and about to be resolved in a public court. Biden may not call him until after the trial, unless there is some kind of crisis. “