In an article published on November 18th, 2019 by The Brookings Institution, Ömer Taşpınar reported on the recent trip that President Erdogan took to the United States to have a conversation with President Trump and several Republican senators. As an important pretext before beginning to analyze the article, it is necessary to give a brief introduction to the author, whose opinions on the matter may impact the objectivity of the article. Ömer Taşpınar is a “nonresident senior fellow in the Center on 21st Century Security and Intelligence and an expert on Turkey, the European Union, Muslims in Europe, political Islam, the Middle East, and Kurdish nationalism. He is a professor at the National War College and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.” He has done extensive research on Turkey and surrounding countries, and his credibility has been vetted by organizations such as NBC, CNBC, CBS, and CNN. As such, there should not be too great of a concern that the information provided in the article is significantly altered or presented in a way that would mislead the audience.
The article, titled “Turkey’s Erdoğan scores a pyrrhic victory in Washington” (pyrrhic means that the victory came at a great cost), addresses the recent meeting that President Erdogan had with President Trump, which primarily revolved around the recent Turkish acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. As a NATO ally, the purchase of such a defense system from Russia, who is a definitive adversary of the United States, increased tensions between the two countries that have persisted since the Armenian Genocide Resolution and the recent fighting with the Syrian Kurds. Unfortunately for Turkey, it seems that they are stuck in a dangerous middle ground between the United States and Russia, where Russia has military might in the northern region of Syria, which would destabilize Turkish forces and land holdings. On the other hand, the United States has entered several pieces of legislation into the process of being accepted that would place economic sanctions on Turkey, starving them out in a time when unemployment is high, inflation is high, and the currency is relatively weak. Furthermore, the ease with which Turkey can assimilate to United States’ wishes is not easy in any way, since the country of Turkey has a long-lasting feud with the Kurdish people who have tried to claim land that they believe is rightfully theirs for years. This puts the United States in a difficult position because the Kurdish forces were instrumental in fighting back against ISIS through most of the 2010s.
The specific topic of the Kurdish people came up during the meeting as well, where an article titled “Erdogan shows anti-Kurdish video to senators at White House” on BBC News addressed a different aspect of the conversation between President Erdogan and President Trump (who had Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and several other Senators). As articulated in the article, President Erdogan attempted to show an anti-Kurdish video to the room, which was filled with the very Senators that were actually outspoken against President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the Northern Syrian region, and who supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It was these very forces that were instrumental in the fight against ISIS, which was a drawn-out battle campaign that severely injured/killed approximately 10,000 Kurdish troops. There were heated debates between the senators and President Erdogan of the status of the Syrian Kurds, and the conversation depicted the deep divide that still exists between Turkey and the United States, even though we are allies. This relationship was expertly depicted through images in both articles, which had seemingly constructive and hospitable conversations between both parties. However, the images did not tell the full story of the disagreements in countless military, social, and economical policies that separate Turkey and America from seeing completely eye to eye. Furthermore, the articles seemed to have a slightly anti-Turkish mentality, not necessarily denouncing their actions, but suggesting ways that they should be acting, instead of running their current course of policy and goals. To conclude, it is encouraging that Turkey and American are attempting to communicate in the face of cooperation with adversaries, looming sanctions, and human rights issues in the foreground, but it is evident that there must be a continued effort by both countries to compromise and work together for the people that live in both nations.
I have several questions, feel free to answer as many as you want, for my peers in Turkey. First, what has the news coverage been like about President Erdogan’s trip to America, and what the takeaways were from the trip? Also, on some of the issues from the meetings, like sanctions, deals with Russia, and fighting with Syrian Kurdish troops in Northern Syria, what is the general opinion of the public on some of these problems? Finally, have students, such as yourselves, done any research on the state of the economy of Turkey, as it seems that sanctions are being proposed to target some weakness in Turkey’s current economy?