The Trump-Erdogan bromance, the F-35s, and the NATO summit
President Trump caused a stir this week at the NATO summit as he praised the host, Turkish President Erdogan, and said he was willing to lift sanctions on Turkey and sell Ankara F-35 fighter jets.
These comments saw an immediate reaction on Capitol Hill as members of Congress urged House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to be prepared to use every legislative tool available to prevent Turkey’s reinstatement into the F-35 program, reminding them that US law prohibits the transfer of F-35s to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian S-400 system.
In the meantime, new reports emerged on Friday that a deal could be taking shape that would see Turkey transfer its S-400 missiles to an unnamed Gulf country in order to convince Washington to lift sanctions and pave the way for its re-entry into the F-35 program.
F-35s were not the only item on the NATO summit agenda making headlines. As reporters on the ground have noted, NATO leaders were also making quiet progress on a new kind of NATO that will see them take on more and more responsibility for the defense of Europe. Something that unfortunately, but predictably, did not receive the attention it deserves as world leaders gathered in Ankara was Turkey’s alarming human rights record.
Endy Zemenides, Steven Erlanger, Steven Cook, and Tyler Stapleton join Thanos Davelis this week as we explore the main takeaways from the NATO summit in Ankara, break down President Trump’s comments on selling F-35s to Turkey, discuss Western hypocrisy when it comes to human rights in Turkey, and look at the latest reports that a deal could be in play over the S400s.
A little more info on our guests:
Endy Zemenides is HALC's Executive Director.
Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times covering Europe.
Steven Cook is the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Tyler Stapleton is the senior director of government relations at FDD Action.
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