At G7 Italia Summit, Meloni Does Favor For U.S. And Turkiye. Invites Erdogan, Who Is Seated Next To Biden At First Expanded Meeting. No Coincidence. “Dress Rehearsal” For Washington Visit.
At G7 Italia Summit, Big Election Winner Prime Minister Georgia Meloni Does Favor For United States President Biden And Turkiye President Erdogan, Which Can Help With Issues Relating To Gaza, Russia, Syria, And Ukraine Among Others.
Did Prime Minister Meloni Invite President Erdogan Of Turkiye To The G7 Italia Summit So President Biden Could Or Would Meet With Him?
Was The White House Involved- Seeking To Have A Dress-Rehearsal For A July 2024 Visit To The White House In Washington DC, Which Was Already Postponed?
Coincidence In First Enlarged Meeting At G7 Italia Summit Attended By President Biden And President Erdogan, They Are Seated Next To One Another?
When Pope Francis Was At His Place, The Participants Stood, Except Two Heads Of State- President Biden And President Erdogan.
President Erdogan Will Be In Italy For Ten Hours- He’s Likely To Make The Most Of It.
Look For The “Pull Aside” By President Biden And President Erdogan.
Prime Minister Meloni Also Creating Opportunities For Constructive Conversations About Gaza, Ukraine, Expanding G7 Membership, And For Bilaterals And Multilaterals Among Heads Of State And Heads Of Government By Inviting Heads Of State And Heads Of Government From Many Countries And Many Locations.
Prime Minister Meloni Embracing Inclusiveness Rather Than Exclusiveness
Georgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy (2022- ), is having a good week, a really good week- which is about to be even better for her and for her country.
Increasing her political party’s representation in national elections and in elections for the European Parliament (EP), her expected governing style- mirroring the worst anxieties of the fascist roots of her “Brothers of Italy” political party have not materialized. With the EP elections concluded, her political party may well be a powerbroker to determine leadership posts within the Brussels, Belgium-based European Commission (EC) and Brussels, Belgium-based European Council (EC).
The Prime Minister is presiding over a still problematic commercial, economic, financial, military, and political domestic environment as anticipated by her supporters and detractors. Her political pragmatism less resembles a barge challenging to navigate than a sleek sailing yacht designed by a shipyard in Italy.
At the official conclusion of the G7 Italia Summit on Friday, Prime Minister Meloni will enjoy the political equivalent of a spectacular serving of gelato from hosting the G7 Italia Summit at Borgo Egnazia in the seaside municipality of Fasano (Brindisi) in the Puglia Region from 13 June 2024 to 15 June 2024.
G7 (2014-Present): Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. The Russian Federation was excluded in 2014 because of its military actions on the Crimean Peninsula.
Guests (invited by host) At 2024 G7 Leaders’ Summit: Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, India, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkiye, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City, and African Union.
Following the conclusion of the G7 Leaders’ Summit, some of the attendees will travel to the lakeside city of Lucerne, Switzerland, to attend the Ukraine Peace Summit hosted by the government of Switzerland and government of Ukraine.
Joseph Biden, President of the United States (2021- ) and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), have a problematic relationship- both personally and professionally.
President Biden will be seeking a second, and final four-year term on 5 November 2024. President Erdogan was re-elected to a second, and final five-year term in May 2023. Both the United States and Turkiye are members of the thirty-two country Brussels, Belgium-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- where the armed forces of Turkiye represent the second-largest number of services personnel in NATO. Washington DC will host the 75th Anniversary NATO Leaders’ Summit from 9 July 2024 to 11 July 2024.
In 2023 and in 2024, President Biden was to have invited President Erdogan to visit The White House for an official visit, though not a state visit. As each opportunity for a visit grew nearer, there were bilateral issues and multilateral issues which proved too much for the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) to overcome.
Meaning, President Biden and President Erdogan had, and continue to have, too many visible differences about too many issues where those differences overwhelm the object of a visit to The White House- moving each government nearer to the other government.
Some of the issues include, but are not limited to: NATO expansion (Finland and Sweden were approved by Ankara); President Erdogan’s visible and personal views about decisions by the government of the State of Israel and about decisions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) relating to Gaza; Voluntary implementation of commercial, economic, financial, military, and political sanctions upon the Russian Federation (those have not been embraced by Ankara); Ankara using its relationships with government of the Russian Federation and government of Ukraine to host diplomatic engagements designed to end the war; Muhammed Fethullah Gulen, a cleric residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania whom Ankara wants extradited (remains unresolved); United States government engagement with PPK/YPG personnel in Iraq and Syria (opposed by Ankara); purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft (resolved); return of approximately US$1.3 billion deposit for purchase of F-35 fighter aircraft (unresolved); assistance to resolve State of Israel-Hamas war in Gaza (Ankara has relationship with Hamas leadership, unknown what engagement has delivered).
A primary reason President Biden has not encouraged President Erdogan to visit The White House is linked to statements and decisions by the government of Turkiye about government of the State of Israel and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) relating to Gaza since 7 October 2023.
The White House knows that any media several minute “pool spray” of the heads of state side-by-side in high-back chairs in front of the fireplace in the Oval Office will focus upon one topic: Gaza.
That means a focus upon the disagreement. That means each head of state will need to defend their position (President Biden with an “ironclad” commitment to the security of the State of Israel) while President Erdogan wants the government of the State of Israel, the IDF, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel (2022- , 2009-2021, 1996-1999), on trial for war crimes at the Haag, Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We have left a very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians. And that began, frankly, pretty early in the conflict… We will have to do things for Saudi Arabia that will be very unpopular in this country and in our Congress… Will Israel be willing to do the hard thing that’s going to be required of them, which is meaningful steps for the Palestinians on the question of two states? I don’t know if the answer to that is yes. I do not have any confidence in this current government of Israel.” Jonathan Finer, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor (Biden-Harris Administration 2021- )
Another invitation to President Erdogan not extended was for a jointly hosted press conference- where President Erdogan excels, seemingly revels in both the banter and length of time to engage (often pointedly) with the media at press conferences. President Biden, to the contrary, increasingly avoids unscripted interactions with media and when there are interactions, journalists are selected in advance to ask questions, there are few questions accepted, and there has become a new strategy to have President Biden participate in “press statements” with another head of state or head of government- so no questions.
By inviting President Erdogan to participate in the G7 Italia Summit, Prime Minister Meloni creates an opportunity for President Biden and President Erdogan to directly engage, and do so quietly, to identify pathways for engagement- and then to a visit by President Erdogan to The White House, perhaps in advance of or subsequent to the NATO Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC in July 2024.