Page 13 - bne_np_May_19_2017

Southeast Europe
May 19, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Erdogan meets Trump at White House, hails foundations of new era
bne IntelliNews
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Donald Trump were “laying the foundations of a new era” following their May 16 White House meeting, though away from the spin put on Trump and Erdogan’s first meeting, most Western com- mentators argue the Turkish president has suf- fered a series of geopolitical setbacks since his disputed narrow referendum victory on stronger presidential powers.
Trump described his first face-to-face talks with Erdogan as successful, stating: “We’ve had a great relationship and we will make it even better.” Erdogan arrived in Washington with a list of com- plaints. Topping his agenda were US support for YPG and Ankara’s demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen – the exiled cleric that the Turkish government claims masterminded the failed coup in Turkey in July last year.
Erdogan, who had strained relations with the Barack Obama administration, partly because it too insisted on militarily working with the YPG on the ground in Syria, said his visit to the US would mark a historical turning of the tide. But following the meeting, Trump did not make any comments that suggested he is willing to change his stance on arming the YPG, which his defence chiefs see as the best fighting force available to ally with in Syria.
Nevertheless, there is no indication Ankara and Washington are, overall, on a collision course. Both Erdogan and Trump put on brave faces when it came to the unresolved differences between the two Nato allies.
Erdogan and Trump shake hands during their White House press briefing.
Before the meeting, rights activists and opponents of Erdogan urged Trump to raise the issue of human rights and democracy, RFE-RL reported on May 16.
“Turkey is under a state of emergency since [the failed coup], during which human rights have been trampled on,” said Sezgin Tanrikulu, a legislator from Turkey’s main opposition Republican Peo- ple’s Party, or CHP. “The media and press free- doms have been placed under government con- trol. Torture and ill-treatment have increased.”
In contrast to EU leaders, Trump immediately congratulated Erdogan after the controversial April 16 referendum that the Turkish president officially narrowly won to give him the right to establish an executive presidency and, for instance, abolish the prime ministry. In contrast, the US State Depart- ment urged Erdogan’s government to “protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens” regardless of how they voted. Massive purges against anyone suspected of links to the Gulenists have been conducted since the coup was put down.
Prior to the meeting, in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post, Gulen hit out at Erdogan, denying any involvement in the failed coup and appealing to the West to “help Turkey return to
the democratic path”.
Following the brief closed-door meeting at the White House, Trump and Erdogan appeared before the press. They struck a rather optimistic tone about relations between the two allies despite their disagreements over the YPG and Ankara’s