President Erdogan Of Turkiye Should Invite Four Members Of The U.S. Congress To Visit Presidential Complex In Ankara For Intimate Conversations. Those Four Members Should Accept- Promptly.
President Erdogan Of Turkiye Should Invite Four Members Of The 118th United States Congress To Visit The Presidential Complex In Ankara. Those Four Members Should Accept- Promptly.
Two Days Of Intimate Conversations With Erdogan Administration Officials And Members Of The Grand National Assembly Of Turkiye. Not Around Large Tables, In Large Halls. Least Amount Of Physical Distance Possible.
One Committee Chairman Can Forestall Delivery Of F-16 Aircraft Supported By Biden-Harris Administration. Two Committee Chairmen Can Be Formidable.
Senator Menendez May Refuse The Invitation. He Can Be A Stubborn Man. He Is A Man Of Meaningful Ego. President Erdogan Should Not Equate Refusal As A Snub, Embarrassment. The Invitation Is A Sign Of Strength. Refusal To Accept It Is A Sign Of Weakness.
President Erdogan Values Face-To-Face Diplomacy. The Turkiye-United States Commercial, Economic, Military, And Political Relationship Needs A Dose Of It Now- Before The 14 May 2023 Presidential Election.
Issues Requiring Dialogue: F-16 Aircraft Purchases, NATO Expansion, Greece, Libya, Russia, Syria, Ukraine. Thorny Topic- What One Country Believes Are Internal Affairs And Those Outside View As Needing Voices.
Separating Finland And Sweden NATO Ascension. Finland Has Direct Border With Russian Federation, Sweden Does Not. Finland More Important.
Turkiye Could Decide To Purchase Aircraft- Commercial And Civil, From Europe And Airbus Rather Than Boeing.
F-16 Aircraft And Boeing 787 Aircraft Are Manufactured In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania And State of South Carolina.
Jeffrey Flake, United States Ambassador To Turkiye, And Former Republican Party Member Of The United States Senate, Should Work The Phones.
The 11/12 July 2023 thirty-country member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the country’s capital, is nearly two months after the 14 May 2023 Presidential Election in Turkiye.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), can use political legitimacy to delay submitting NATO membership ascension documents for the Kingdom of Sweden (population 10.2 million) to the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye until after the Presidential Election without considerable concern about the optics of a visual ostracization, the diplomatic “cold shoulder,” that he may receive in Vilnius which would be a demonstrable change from the warm embrace he showed and was shown at the 28/30 June 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain.
However, a delay for the Republic of Finland would be problematic. President Erdogan would do well to submit as soon as possible the ascension request of Finland to the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye. The 5.5 million citizens of Finland have the most to fear from the armed forces of the Russian Federation due to an 830-mile land border with the Russian Federation, so President Erdogan would do well to be the catalyst for removing some of that fear by covering the citizens of Finland with the umbrella of membership in NATO.
President Erdogan is seeking re-election with voting required on or before 18 June 2023. Last week, President Erdogan confirmed election day would be 14 May 2023.
For the next two years remaining in the four-year term of the [Joseph] Biden-[Kamala] Harris Administration (2021- ), four men will lead the two committees in the 118th United States Congress which focus upon the relationship between the United States government and the governments of other countries.
Robert Menendez (D- New Jersey) is the chairman and James Risch (R- Idaho) is the ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate.
Michael McCaul (R- Texas, 10th District) is the chairman and Gregory Meeks (D- New York, 5th District) is the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
Robert Menendez (69 years of age) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006 when he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill an unexpired term of a member of the United States Senate elected as Governor of the State of New Jersey. Like President Erdogan, Senator Menendez was a mayor: of Union City, New Jersey, from 1866-1992. Mr. Menendez was re-elected in 2012 and in 2018 and will seek re-election in 2024. He is expected to win.
In 2024, twenty (18 Democrats and 3 Independents who caucus with Democrats) members of the United States Senate are up for reelection. In 2024, eleven (Republican) members of the United States Senate are up for reelection. According to Roll Call, there are eight “vulnerable” Democrats and no “vulnerable” Republicans.
Punchbowl News
Washington, DC
20 January 2023
“Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is once again at the center of a diplomatic spat between the United States and Turkey. The New Jersey Democrat and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced this week that he’ll continue to block the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara. This came after the Biden administration informally notified Congress that it wants to move forward with the $20 billion transaction. It’s yet another setback for both the Biden administration and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose government is still resisting formal approval of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership applications even as it pushes for the F-16 purchase.
In a statement, Menendez cited Erdoğan’s “alarming and destabilizing behavior” and suggested that Turkey should not be considered a “trusted” NATO ally — a notable criticism given its refusal to ratify the newest members of the alliance. “President Erdoğan continues to undermine international law, disregard human rights and democratic norms, and engage in alarming and destabilizing behavior in Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies. “Until Erdoğan ceases his threats, improves his human rights record at home — including by releasing journalists and political opposition — and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale.”
Foreign military sales require signoff from the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee — also referred to as the “Four Corners” — so Menendez’s objections will likely continue to doom the effort. The State Department could declare a state of emergency in order to circumvent the congressional review process — as it did under former President Donald Trump to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia — but that’s seen as unlikely. The Biden administration views the F-16 sale as a way to repair the relationship between the two nations, one lawmaker told us. U.S. officials are wary that Turkey hasn’t formally signed off on Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to the NATO alliance. There are concerns that Turkey is holding their NATO memberships hostage in order to extract concessions from those two countries as well as from the United States — like the F-16 sale.
It’s a reflection of the increasingly strained relationship between Washington and Ankara, a notable rift between two NATO members. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Washington Wednesday, and these issues were surely on the agenda for that session. Separately, Menendez applauded the Biden administration’s proposed sale of F-35 aircraft to Greece, which has been the victim of thousands of airspace encroachments by Turkey in recent years. Menendez called Greece “a trusted NATO ally and enduring partner.”
Of note: Menendez’s GOP counterpart on the committee, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, met with Erdoğan at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Erdoğan also met with Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) there.”
[NOTE: Components For F-16 aircraft are assembled in South Carolina (S.C.) and the Boeing 787 aircraft is assembled in South Carolina. Istanbul, Turkiye-based Turkish Airlines operates Boeing 787 aircraft.]
United States Department of State
Washington DC
18 January 2023
QUESTION: (Inaudible) something about Türkiye?
MR PRICE: Yeah, sure. Türkiye?
QUESTION: Yeah, so – specifically on Türkiye. The foreign – Turkish foreign minister said he expected the United States to approve the sale of F-16s – he said that to the Secretary, obviously. What will be the message of the Secretary, given that the U.S. Government officially supports this deal, but there’s strong opposition in Congress? So what are your expectations the Secretary will tell the Turkish foreign minister on this issue?
MR PRICE: Well, I expect our Turkish allies will be hearing – because the meeting is ongoing now – a similar message to what they have heard, President Erdogan has heard directly from President Biden, and what all of you have heard, because President Biden said this publicly in June in Madrid. When it comes to the F-16s, President Biden said that as a general matter, he believes that we should sell Türkiye the F-16 jets and modernize their existing fleet as well. As you know, there is a process for these types of sales, these types of transfers. This is a process that involves Congress, of course, and we would decline to comment on the particulars of that process until and unless there is any formal notification to Congress. We are not in a position to do that yet; our position has not changed. It is also fair to say – and I don’t think I’m betraying any secrets, because our partners on the Hill have been quite vocal about this as well – is that there are strong opinions on the Hill. So we will continue to engage with our Turkish partners. We will, as appropriate, engage with our partners on the Hill. We want to see to it that Türkiye, as a NATO Ally, has what it needs to be – continue to be a valued member of that Alliance and to address the very real security concerns that Türkiye itself faces.
QUESTION: Thank you, please. Senator Menendez said that he is going to block the transfer of F-16s to Türkiye, and he said till Ankara, as he said, improves its human rights record and cease threatening U.S. regional allies like Greece and Cyprus. He said that Erdogan is undermining international law, and Türkiye is not a good ally. I don’t know if you agree with the senator, but I wanted to hear your comment, please.
MR PRICE: Well, Congress has a key role to play when it comes to these decisions. This is a process that we respect. It has been a priority of this Secretary to engage with Congress not only, as he likes to say, on landing, but also at the takeoff; that is to say, at every step of the process, to have iterative engagement with our congressional overseers, but also the authorizers and approvers, including those who sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We have a very constructive relationship with Türkiye. We are grateful for the role that Türkiye has played in helping to address many of the most pressing challenges of our time, and that includes, of course, Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that without Türkiye’s constructive role, we would not have the Black Sea Grain Initiative, certainly not the grain initiative that is functioning at the scope and scale that it is now. We’ve consistently said that we are grateful for Türkiye’s role in that. We’re also appreciative of the fact that President Erdogan and his government has used their somewhat unique position to seek to address Russia’s war against Ukraine. Now, it is not for any lack of trying on Ankara’s part that those efforts have not diminished or put an end to this war. That is a function of President Putin – his determination to continue this brutal war despite the costs that it’s inflicting on his own people. Now, as allies, where and when we have disagreements, we can be candid about those disagreements, and we’ll speak clearly when it comes to shared values and shared interests. We’ve said this many times before: We remain deeply concerned by the continued judicial harassment of civil society, media, political and business leaders in Türkiye, including through prolonged pretrial detention, overly broad claims of support for terrorism, and criminal insult cases. The people of Türkiye, like people everywhere, deserve to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution. The right to exercise freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association is enshrined in Türkiye’s constitution, and in its international law obligations, and in its OSCE commitments. We urge Türkiye to respect and ensure freedom of expression, these very fair pretrial guarantees, fair trial guarantees, judicial independence, and other human rights and fundamental freedoms. And we urge the government to cease prosecutions, these prosecutions, and to respect the rights and freedoms of all Turkish citizens. Our Turkish allies know where we stand on this; the message we convey in private is precisely the message we’ve consistently conveyed in public.
QUESTION: Another question, please. You said that you are happy, of course, with the role that Türkiye has played with the Ukraine. But are you happy with the role that Türkiye is playing in northern Syria? I mean, Mr. Kalin said two days ago that they are going to invade.
MR PRICE: And this is an area where we’ve also been in a position to have candid conversations with our ally, precisely because we are allies. And when you’re friends, let alone when you’re allies, you have the ability to sit down together and to be frank with one another, and we’ve done that. But we’ve also recognized that Türkiye faces legitimate threats to its own security. Türkiye has endured more terrorist attacks on its soil than any other NATO Ally. This goes back to the point I was making before about our desire to see Türkiye continue to be an important, constructive NATO Ally with the means by which to participate meaningfully in that Alliance, as Türkiye has.
When it comes to Syria, we’ve been clear publicly – also privately – that we don’t want to see any unilateral actions that have the potential to set back the tremendous progress that the international community has achieved in the effort to counter ISIS, counter Daesh, over the past several years. The so-called territorial caliphate of ISIS has been virtually destroyed. It has been virtually destroyed because of the stalwart coordination and cooperation on the part of dozens of countries who are part of the global coalition to counter ISIS or Daesh. We are concerned that any unilateral moves have the potential to set that back and have the potential to set back the prospects for a political resolution to the longstanding – 12 years now – conflict in Syria in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
QUESTION: Sorry. At the very beginning of your – you said you are grateful for the – I think this is a quote – “grateful for the role that Türkiye has played in helping to address many of the most pressing challenges of our time.” You named one, which was the Black Sea initiative. But then after that, you listed a whole bunch of problems that you have with Türkiye, including the human rights situation, Syria just now. You didn’t mention but it’s clear that there are differences over NATO expansion as well. So can you name – I mean, you only named one. So when you say “many of the most pressing challenges of our time,” I’d like to give you the opportunity to identify another —
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: — other than the Black Sea initiative.
MR PRICE: So embedded in what I said were two high-profile priorities of ours. Number one is Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and I believe I mentioned this, but Türkiye has played a very helpful, meaningfully helpful role in seeking to put an end to this conflict, or at the very least diminish the violence. They have —
QUESTION: Well – okay. But whatever they’ve done, as laudable as it might be, it doesn’t seem to have worked.
MR PRICE: And again, that is – that is not – that is not for lack of trying on the part of Ankara. That is —
QUESTION: Okay. So you’re – so you’re giving them credit for trying to push the Russians to stop
MR PRICE: Of course.
QUESTION: – their aggression against Ukraine. And you’ve got – okay. So that’s two.
MR PRICE: And dealing with the implications of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, food insecurity being one of them. That’s embedded in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
QUESTION: Okay, but that’s – that’s the second one. So there’s two. But you said “many of the most pressing challenges of our time.” So give me another example.
MR PRICE: Another example, Matt, is terrorism and the joint efforts that we’ve —
QUESTION: You just went after them about Syria, which —
MR PRICE: - that Türkiye has taken, including the steps that we announced together just a couple weeks ago now to go after a network of ISIS facilitators.
QUESTION: That was, like, four people.
MR PRICE: Yes, Matt. But Türkiye has been a valued member of this coalition. Its efforts have been-
QUESTION: Okay. I’m not saying that they’re not doing any of this. I’d just like to have another example. When you say “many,” does “many” mean two?
MR PRICE: Many ways —
QUESTION: Does it mean – does it mean three? Okay. So you’ve got Black Sea and then they attempt to get the Russians – not successfully, but they attempt to get the Russians to ease up in Ukraine. You don’t like what they’re doing or what they’re threatening to do in Syria. On terrorism, yeah, okay, so you have one joint statement over the course of the last year about sanctions. I’m just wondering where the “many of the most pressing challenges” are, and I’m not – again, I’m not saying the Turks aren’t doing anything about this, but I’d just like you – I’d like to give you the opportunity to explain what those are.
MR PRICE: And I think we’ve just gone through a number of them, not to mention Türkiye’s role in NATO over the course of several —
QUESTION: Türkiye’s role in NATO – they’re stopping —
MR PRICE: Over the – over the – over the course —
QUESTION: They are the main obstacle to NATO doing what it wants to do right now in expansion.
MR PRICE: Over the course of several decades.
QUESTION: Can you explain that deal —
MR PRICE: Yes. Let me move around to someone who hasn’t had a question yet.
Janne?
QUESTION: On the Turks —
QUESTION: Thank you so much. I just wanted to go back to Türkiye really quickly.
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: Specifically – pardon me – Senator Menendez. As you know – as you know, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he can basically block this F-16 sale as long as he wants. So if the Biden administration is committed to getting this sale done, it will have to persuade him to get on board with it. So what’s the State Department’s game plan to get Senator Menendez to lift his opposition to the sale?
MR PRICE: Sure. As you know, we don’t often detail our private diplomacy. The same principle applies to our private conversations with our congressional partners, so I don’t want to go too far down this road. What I will say is that we have conveyed to our partners on the Hill our support for the provision of F-16s and for enabling Türkiye to maintain its existing fleet of F‑16s. Again, our partners on the Hill – at least several of them – have made no secret about their opposition to this. They have pointed to various elements. These are questions that will – are better addressed for our congressional partners. We are going to continue to work with the Turks on priorities of ours. Again, that is the war in Ukraine, the constructive role that Türkiye has played. It is its unique role as a bridge between East and West, in this case using its good offices, or at least its voice, to encourage Russia to end this brutal war against the people of Ukraine. We’re going to continue to work on food security, we’re going to continue to work on our shared counterterrorism agenda, even as we continue to encourage Türkiye, Finland, Sweden to find a way to achieve what we would all like to see, and that is the quick accession of Finland and Sweden as NATO’s newest Allies. There is strong support within the Alliance, but, to the point of your question, there is strong support within the U.S. Congress for Finland and Sweden to be – to become NATO’s newest members. When the treaty was put before the Senate last year, it was approved in near record time on an overwhelming and bipartisan basis. Congress has made no secret of its support. Of course, we share the enthusiasm that we’ve heard from our Hill partners when it comes to Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership. And we’re going to continue to encourage Finland, Sweden, Türkiye to engage in constructive dialogue to see this through just as quickly as can be managed.
QUESTION: Are you still in agreement with Türkiye over normalization with Syria? I’m sure this topic was on the table today up on the seventh floor. Are you still opposing Türkiye normalizing with Syria?
MR PRICE: I will allow our Turkish allies to note their approach to the Assad regime in Syria. Our approach to the Assad regime has not changed. We believe that now is not the time for normalization, now is not the time for countries to seek improvements in relations with the Syrian regime. One need only look at the track record of the regime over the past 12 years, the violence and brutality that the Assad regime has inflicted on its own people. We continue to believe in the utility of pursuing the goals and metrics enshrined in UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
QUESTION: And Foreign Minister was told that today?
MR PRICE: The meeting is still going on, so I’m just not in a position to speak to it.
The White House
Washington DC
18 January 2023
QUESTION: There is an impasse between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey over Ankara’s demands related to Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO accession. So, I’m wondering if you consider those demands reasonable. And if not, does the President consider Turkey a reliable NATO Ally?
MS. [KARINE] JEAN-PIERRE: So, let me just say that we do see Turkey as a reliable ally. So, I'll answer that question that you just asked me. On anything specific about -- about the agreement and what's currently happening, we would refer you to the Turkish government to speak on their own position. That's not something that I will do for them. I would not speak for them here. What I can say is that we have been a strong supporter of Finland and Sweden's applications for NATO membership and worked with the Senate to move quickly to ratify their applications. You saw -- you all were here and saw Finland and Sweden's leadership here with the President not too long ago. We have welcomed the rapid ratifications by our Allies, and we urge all remaining Allies to com- -- complete their own ratification process as quickly as possible.