Türkiye's top diplomat arrived in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as Türkiye and the United States eye better ties. The two countries were scheduled to hold comprehensive talks later on Thursday to discuss whether the NATO allies can move beyond deep-rooted disagreements over issues such as Syria and Ankara's ties with Russia.
Senior U.S. and Turkish officials are set to meet at the State Department for several rounds of talks focusing on topics spanning Syria, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, defense cooperation, energy, counterterrorism and the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The conversations, dubbed the Strategic Mechanism, will set the stage for a meeting on Friday between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Ties between the U.S. and Türkiye have drifted away from a strategic partnership in recent years as disagreements between the two long-standing treaty allies have widened.
Türkiye's 2019 acquisition of the Russian S-400 defense missile system triggered U.S. sanctions on Ankara and removed it from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program. Meanwhile, Türkiye has remained deeply troubled over U.S. support in northern Syria to the PKK terrorist group.
The U.S. was also annoyed by Ankara's 20-month delay in approving Sweden's NATO membership, which took place in January. The U.S. Congress has since approved the $20 billion (TL 63.68 billion) sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye, long sought by the Turkish government. Since then, U.S. officials have begun describing a desire to deepen conversations in areas where the two sides can cooperate.
"This is probably going to be the meatiest and most positive strategic mechanism that we've had in years," a senior U.S. official said of the upcoming conversations.
In late January, Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Murphy, senators from President Joe Biden's Democratic Party, visited Türkiye and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Murphy then said there was now "significant momentum" in the bilateral ties. In an interview with Reuters, Shaheen described their visit as "quite positive in terms of the potential to reset U.S.-Turkey relations going forward."
However, there is no illusion that the two-day visit will solve all long-running strains between the two allies, and some tough conversations are expected. The hardest talks will likely take place on the way forward in Syria and Ankara's strong economic ties with Russia, which Washington says has helped the Kremlin circumvent some U.S. sanctions on Moscow.
Shaheen said she discussed with Erdoğan Ankara's relationship with Moscow, arguing it is not in Türkiye's interest to have Russian President Vladimir Putin "feel like he can take over whatever country he would like," an apparent reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "The potential is much greater for the U.S. and Turkey to work together than for Turkey and Russia to work together," Shaheen said.
Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Moscow even as it has criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has maintained close ties with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict. It held early talks between the sides and helped broker a deal for grain shipments from Ukraine. In the meantime, its trade with Moscow boomed before a U.S. executive order in December complicated some Turkish payments for Russian oil as well as Russian payments for a broad range of Turkish exports.
Senior U.S. officials repeatedly traveled to Türkiye to warn Turkish companies about the risk of violating U.S. sanctions.
In the same interview, U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Jeff Flake said, "I think we're seeing a lot better cooperation there."
In Syria, any breakthrough will likely remain elusive after years of disagreements. Washington's Syria policy is focused on fighting against Daesh remnants and training partnered forces. The PKK's Syria wing, the YPG, has been a major partner of the U.S. in this field. Türkiye wants the U.S. to stop its support for the terrorist group.
"Obviously, we see things differently in some respects, but our interests align when it comes to defeating (Daesh)," Flake said. "We're trying to build on the areas in which we have a collective interest despite some differences we have there."
