US-Turkey ties set to remain loveless, transactional
The meeting between the Turkish and American presidents left key issues unresolved, with cooperation in Afghanistan emerging as the only progress to speak of.
Over 10 days have elapsed since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with US President Joe Biden on June 14 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels.
The long-awaited meeting appears to have broken some ice between the two leaders. It remains unclear, however, what dividends Ankara secured from these talks. The general feeling is that it got little if anything, while many believe that Erdogan may have even made concessions he is keeping from the public.
Two issues in particular have become acid tests for measuring progress in ties, while multiple issues remain unsolved and continue to cause friction between the sides.
For Ankara, its demand that Washington end its alliance with the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria remains non-negotiable. Turkey says the Kurdish militia is a terrorist organization that poses an existential threat to its security. Washington continues to deepen its ties with the YPG and its political offshoots under various names. Any concessions on this point would have political consequences for Erdogan among his viscerally anti-Kurdish right-wing supporters. He needs the political support of these quarters to remain in power.
