While Europe and the United States were trying to isolate Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey referred to Russia’s president as “my friend.” While NATO leaders worked to enlarge the alliance, Mr. Erdogan held up the process by seeking concessions for his nation.
Then on Monday, Mr. Erdogan suddenly flipped after more than a year of being treated as an in-house spoiler by Western allies. He dropped his objections to Sweden joining the alliance and allowed a NATO summit to convene on Tuesday with a new sense of strength and unity.
Mr. Erdogan has yet to comment publicly on his decision, much less explain his change of heart, but he appears to have concluded that he had little more to gain from continuing to block Sweden — and that he could potentially benefit more from mending his sour relationships with the United States and other NATO allies.
Already on Tuesday, Mr. Erdogan cast a one-on-one meeting with President Biden in terms of a bright new start between the two leaders, who have had chilly relations. “All of our previous meetings were like warm-up rounds, but right now we launch a new process,” Mr. Erdogan told Mr. Biden when they met ahead of the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
As Mr. Erdogan has made gestures of rapprochement, he has also given recent indications that he is distancing Turkey from Russia, a shift that would ingratiate him with Western leaders and further isolate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“This is not Erdogan’s first U-turn and will not be the last,” said Osman Sert, the research director for PanoramaTR, a Turkish risk analysis organization. “Mr. Erdogan knows he needs to do something to create a bridge to the West.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Turkey has occupied a unique middle ground between Moscow and the West. Mr. Erdogan condemned the invasion and closed the Turkish straits to most military ships, limiting Russia’s ability to bolster its fleet in the Black Sea.
At the same time, Turkey not only refused to impose sanctions on Russia but has expanded trade ties, stepping up Turkish exports to Russia and buying cut-rate Russian gas.
Turkish officials argue that Turkey’s position has made it a necessary diplomatic intermediary, helping to broker prisoner swaps and a U.N. deal to ensure the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Still, Mr. Erdogan’s frequent and apparently friendly meetings with Mr. Putin left Western officials wondering where his true allegiances lay.
But on the sidelines of the NATO summit Lithuania on Tuesday, the mood was more jovial as Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Biden spoke to reporters before their talks.
Mr. Biden welcomed Mr. Erdogan to what he called a “historic meeting” and Mr. Erdogan described it as “the first step” in a stronger relationship.
He said he wished to work with Mr. Biden through the rest of the new five-year term that Mr. Erdogan won in May.
“And with the forthcoming elections, I would…
2023-07-11 18:13:23
Source from www.nytimes.com
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