Spelling I-N-S-U-L-T? U.S. Sending Only Ambassador To Erdogan Inauguration While U.S. Secretary Of State In Region. Denying F-16/Sweden NATO Ascension Quid Pro Quo With Turkiye While Admitting It.
Spelling Insult? U.S. Sending Only Ambassador To Erdogan Inauguration While U.S. Secretary Of State In Region
No “Quid Pro Quo” For Sweden In NATO And F-16 Aircraft In Turkiye?
Of Course, There Is- President Biden Said It Before His Secretary Of State Denied It.
U.S. Secretary Of State Indirect Subduedly To President Erdogan About Sweden Ascension To NATO: “We have no doubt that it can be, and it should be, and we expect it to be.”
“These are totally unrelated matters.” Said U.S. Secretary Of State. And President Erdogan Is Supposed To Believe That?
“I told him [President Erdogan] we wanted a deal with Sweden,…” Said President Biden.
Everything Is Connected, Related, Dependent.
Should There Be Connectivity, Relatedness, Dependance? Bilateral Relationships Are Often About Transactions.
On 3 June 2023, twenty-one heads of state, thirteen prime ministers, ministers of foreign affairs, special envoys, leadership of legislative bodies, and the Secretary-General of Brussels, Belgium-based thirty-one country member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be in Ankara, Turkiye, for the inauguration of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), to his final five-year term in office.
From Government of Turkiye: “The inauguration ceremony at the Presidential Complex will be attended by 21 heads of state, 13 prime ministers, as well as parliamentary and ministerial-level representatives, and representatives of international organizations, including the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), NATO and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).”
Among those attending: Viacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Russian Federation State Duma; Ding Zhongli, Special Envoy of Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China (2013- ), and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC); and Vladimir Andreichnko, Chairman of the Belarus House of Representatives of the National Assembly.
And the “delegation” representing Joseph Biden, 46th President of the United States (2021- ) consists of Jeff Flake, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from the United States to the Republic of Turkiye, who arrived in Ankara in January 2022. Yes, the same individual about whom President Erdogan fifty-nine days ago shared:
“Our doors are closed to him from now on because he does not know his place. You should know how an ambassador should act.” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), 2 April 2023
The White House
Washington DC
2 June 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
President Biden Announces Presidential Delegation to Türkiye to Attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
“President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday, June 3, 2023. T.H. Jeffry L. Flake, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye, will attend the Inauguration in Ankara, Türkiye.” The misspelling of Ambassador Flake’s name is as released by The White House.
“Quid Pro Quo” Does Exist
For weeks, officials throughout the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) have in the spirit of a circus contortionist denied direct and indirect connectivity between the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden as the thirty-second country member of NATO and the delivery to Turkiye of F-16 aircraft and upgrades for F-16 aircraft along with discussions relating to sanctions (including removal from the F-35 aircraft manufacturing and purchase programs) implemented due to the purchase from the Russian Federation of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Unite States Department of State
Washington DC
30 May 2023
QUESTION (Luleå, Sweden): Yes. Mr. Secretary Blinken, what do you make of the fact that there are still two countries blocking the Swedish NATO application? And is the U.S. willing to add more pressure to these countries in order to speed up the process?
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Thank you. So the accession process is just that. It’s a process. And in fact, if you look at this in historic terms, it’s removed – it’s moved remarkably rapidly with Finland’s accession and, very soon, Sweden’s accession. Through that process, individual members of the Alliance can bring up issues of concern to them, and, of course, Türkiye has done that over the last months. And I think it has rightly focused attention on some of its security concerns that both Sweden and Finland have taken remarkable steps to address, important ones. So I think it’s to Türkiye’s credit that it’s been able to focus all of the Alliance on some of these concerns, but it’s to Sweden’s credit as well as Finland’s credit that they’ve taken concrete action to address those concerns. From the perspective of the United States, the time is now to finalize Sweden’s accession. Again, it’s taken very significant steps to address very legitimate concerns, and I think in terms of its own qualifications for membership, from day one it was qualified precisely because it’s been such a long-time partner for NATO; of course, the European Union; and with values that are fundamentally the same. So we look forward to this process being completed in the weeks ahead. We have no doubt that it can be, and it should be, and we expect it to be.
QUESTION: I’d also like to ask about the Sweden NATO accession issue. First, for you, Mr. Prime Minister, have you or any of your advisers been in touch with the Turkish Government since – with Erdogan or his team since the – his re-election? And do you have any indications that Türkiye is now ready to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO, or are they asking you to take additional steps? And I know your government has spoken extensively about the benefits that NATO accession will bring to both Sweden and NATO, but what do you think it says about NATO and its ability to provide a strong deterrent that one or two members of NATO have the ability to hold up the enlargement for over a year? And then for you, Mr. Secretary, President Biden yesterday suggested that there could be some sort of arrangement linking Turkish approval of the Swedish accession bid to the provision of F‑16s to Türkiye. Do you have any indications that Türkiye will now relent on Sweden’s NATO accession now that the election is over, and do you have any indications that key lawmakers in the United States will now support supplying Türkiye with F-16s. And then also on the Turkish election, forgive me, given the track record of Erdogan’s government regarding rule of law, democracy, and inclusivity, are you concerned that conditions around those things might deteriorate further in Türkiye following the election since arguably he might see that as a valid – see the results of the election as a validation of his approach? Thanks.
PRIME MINISTER ULF KRISTERSSON OF SWEDEN: Well, first, of course, obviously, we have had several contacts also after the election runoff last Sunday, so we have – we are in constant contact with our Turkish counterpart on this specific issue, of course. So – and just to reiterate what I’ve said before, I mean, we have always known that – two things. One is we have a memorandum, we are fulfilling it, and the very final part of that is actually being put into force June 1st – that is the day after tomorrow – when the new piece of legislation, actually, in counterterrorism – and that is an important step. And thereby, we have done what we told the – our Turkish friends and within the framework of the trilateral memorandum – very, very important. And we acknowledged the fact that they have good reasons to have had concerns on how other countries helped them to protect themselves. But on the other side, or at the same time, we have always recognized the fact that every NATO Ally has to make its own decision, and only Türkiye can make Türkiye’s decisions, and we fully respect that. So that’s basically it. And now we wait for them to make their decision.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And Missy, to your question, first let me just say it is appropriate that every Ally have a clear say in the admission of new members or the accession of new members, because it comes down to Article 5. Each member is making a solemn commitment to every other member that it will join in coming to their defense if they are the victims of aggression. And so it’s important that every member have its say in this process. And as I said earlier, by historic terms, this has moved remarkably rapidly, and we believe it needs to come to a conclusion now. With regard to Sweden’s accession and the F-16s, these are distinct issues. Both, though, are vital, in our judgment, to European security. I’ve already been clear about why it’s profoundly in the interest of the Alliance and the United States to have Sweden as a formal Ally in NATO. And as I said, we expect that process to be completed in the weeks ahead. But we know that our Alliance will be stronger and we will be better off when that process is finalized. And so we urge both Türkiye and Hungary, which has also not yet ratified, to ratify the accession as quickly as possible. There is no reason for any further time; Sweden is ready now. That decision should be – should move forward now. With regard to the F-16s, our administration has been very clear: We believe it’s important that Türkiye have the F-16s or the F-16 upgrades, as a critical member of the NATO Alliance, to make sure that they are operating at the highest standards of the Alliance, that they’re fully interoperable with every other Ally. This, too, is in the interest of the United States, and it’s why we brought this forward for consideration. It’s equally true that there are members of Congress who feel strongly, and while we are not linking the two issues – when I say we, I mean the Biden administration – some members of Congress are. They are linking Sweden’s accession to NATO to the moving forward on the F‑16s. Congress is a fully equal and independent branch of government. Their voice and their vote in any such decisions, of course, is critical. But from our perspective, we believe that both should go forward and should go forward as quickly as possible, that is to say, Sweden’s accession and moving forward on the F-16 package. More broadly, as always, we’re focused on the actions of any given government, of any given partner, not on hypotheticals about what they may or may not do in the future. We will remain focused on their actions.
QUESTION: Just a follow-up on the NATO question. The NATO meeting in Vilnius is only six weeks away. What would you say the odds are, the chances are that you will see Sweden as a member of NATO before the meeting takes place? And sort of a follow-up on that, if the process will be further delayed, would that – what might – what might the consequences be for Sweden as well as for NATO?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: I don’t have any inside information that I could or would share. (Laughter.) Look, as I said, we believe the time is now, and there is no reason for not moving forward and – as I said before. And as the prime minister has expressed very eloquently, Türkiye has raised important and legitimate concerns. Sweden and Finland both addressed those concerns, and so the time to move forward is now. We’d like to see that happen before the Vilnius Summit. But again, I can’t put and won’t put odds on it. What I can say is this: We and our Allies are both committed to and well-positioned to help Sweden address its security needs irrespective of whether accession happens tomorrow or in two weeks or in a few weeks after that. We’ve been clear that we will not tolerate any aggression against Sweden no matter its actual status. Secretary of Defense Austin was here recently, and I think he very clearly reaffirmed that point. We have a deep existing partnership that is literally being exercised, as the prime minister said, right now through Arctic Challenge 23. And I think that’s further evidence of the fact that we are working extremely closely together and as partners and, soon, formal Allies. We’re ready for any contingency.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
1 June
QUESTION (Simen Ekern of NRK TV, Oslo, Norway): One last short question. Is that okay? Yeah. I was wondering Sweden has now been waiting for almost a year, and there seems to be increased pressure on Türkiye these days to make a decision. What can the U.S. do, in addition to what you’ve already done, to convince President Erdogan that now is the time?
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Well, this is not a matter for the U.S. This is a matter for the entire NATO Alliance. And the admission of any new member – first of all, it’s a process. And if you look at this historically – and actually this process has moved quickly, particularly with the accession of Finland, and I fully anticipate the accession of Sweden very soon. And part of that process is members of the Alliance raising any concerns that they have. In this case, Türkiye raised some concerns, and those concerns have been fully addressed by Sweden, as well as before that by Finland, including with an agreement that they signed regarding actions that they would take to counter terrorism. And in fact, today they’re implementing a new counterterrorism law in Sweden that is part of something they agreed to do in their conversations and discussions with Türkiye. As far as we’re concerned, Sweden has done everything and more that it said it would do. It’s very appropriate to have this process. It’s very appropriate that the legitimate concerns of members be addressed as they were, but that’s now been done. And so in our judgement – but not just in our judgement, in the judgement of virtually every other member of the Alliance – and I heard that very clearly expressed today – foreign minister after foreign minister said, okay, the time is now for Sweden to join the Alliance. So it is my strong expectation that that will happen in the weeks ahead. And again, that’s not just us. That’s virtually every member of the Alliance saying the same thing, and I suspect those views will be made known to all those who need to hear them.
QUESTION: But it seems President Erdogan wants to have some news about American F-16s going to Türkiye as well?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: These are totally unrelated matters. We very much support – the Biden administration very much supports providing F-16s to Türkiye or upgrading the F-16s that it has, just as we very much and very strongly support Sweden’s immediate accession to NATO. But these are two distinct issues. They’re not related to each other. We’ll continue to advocate back home in Washington with members of Congress who need to approve any such sale or provision of F-16s to Türkiye for that, and at the same time we look to Türkiye to take the steps necessary to admit Sweden. This process has, I think, been very productive, but the process in our judgement has now come to an end. Sweden has fulfilled the commitments that it made. It’s time for it to join NATO.
The White House
Washington DC
29 May 2023
Remarks Before Marine One Departure
THE PRESIDENT: ... I spoke to Erdoğan and congratulated Erdoğan. And he -- he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden, so let’s get that done. And so we'll be back in touch with one another. But I -- it was basically a congratulatory call.
QUESTION: Are you expecting any movement on Sweden’s membership in NATO on Erdoğan’s part?
THE PRESIDENT: I raised that issue with him. We’re going to talk more about it next week.
Politico
Washington DC
31 May 2023
What’s happening: Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez said he is still opposed to F-16 fighter jets for Turkey, even as President Joe Biden said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are negotiating the matter.
Details: Menendez said the administration hasn’t reached out to him since Erdoğan was reelected.
“Maybe the reason they haven't reached out is because I've made it so crystal clear to the administration,” Menendez told reporters Tuesday.
Talking Turkey: In a call Monday, when Biden congratulated Erdoğan, the Turkish leader repeated Ankara's desire to buy F-16s from the U.S., while Biden told him Washington wants the country to drop its objection to Sweden’s joining NATO. “He still wants to work on something on the F-16s,” Biden said. “I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden, so let’s get that done. And so we’ll be back in touch with one another.”
But but but: To Menendez, “Sweden is only part of the equation” — so is ending “belligerence” toward Greece, a fellow NATO ally. It’s a view he says he’s shared with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “If that’s the case and we can see it through substantive commitments and various indications that would actually take place, there’s a path forward — at least for me,” Menendez said.
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