Should Ankara be optimistic about relations with Trump?

While much of the world remains unsure about US President-elect Donald Trump’s views on major foreign policy issues, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu suggests that he is in the know. Not only that: Also unlike most other observers, Cavusoglu apparently foresaw Trump’s electoral victory.

In a Dec. 5 interview in the pro-government English-language Daily Sabah, Cavusoglu conveyed the general optimism felt by the Turkish leadership that Trump’s presidency will lead to a new and positive chapter in what have been increasingly acrimonious relations with the United States.

Cavusoglu declared, “I was actually expecting Trump to win the election,” and “The Trump administration is one we could cooperate with.” He went on, “I know he is a pragmatic person. Many of our views overlap.” Cavusoglu downplayed Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric during the presidential campaign, stating, “We should distinguish between pre-election rhetoric and post-election reality.”

Cavusoglu did not, however, offer specific examples of how Turkish leaders and Trump might see eye to eye beyond asserting, “I know that the new US administration believes that they should fight against terrorism, without favoring one organization." Here he was most probably referring to the US alliance with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the US-led coalition’s premier partner in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. Turkey is calling for an immediate end to the alliance on the grounds that the YPG is an integral part of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the rebel group waging a bloody campaign for Kurdish autonomy inside Turkey.