Don’t reward Turkey’s treacherous Erdogan with – Latest News
President Donald Trump is rolling out the pink carpet for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the White House on Thursday — a victory for the autocrat, who spent years unsuccessfully begging for an viewers with then-President Joe Biden.
Erdogan is lastly getting his second, however make no mistake: He isn’t coming to Washington for well mannered handshakes and photo-ops.
He’s coming with a procuring record — and topping it’s America’s crown jewel fighter jet, the F-35.
But US law bans him from getting it. And Trump should slam the door shut.
Back in 2019, Turkey spat in Trump’s face when it purchased Russia’s S-400 air and missile protection system.
The Kremlin designed these missiles to trace and shoot down the very F-35s Erdogan now needs.
Washington warned him, Congress begged him, NATO allies pleaded with him.
Erdogan ignored everybody, hugged Moscow and proudly rolled out his shiny new Russian toys.
The penalty was clear and swift: Turkey was expelled from the F-35 program.
That December, Congress handed into US law Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which explicitly forbids the switch of F-35s or associated tech to Ankara. That law stays in impact.
Now, six years later, Erdogan is hoping to appeal or bully Trump into wanting the opposite approach.
His pitch? Russia is working low on missiles due to its disastrous warfare in Ukraine, and desires its S-400s back.
Erdogan proposes returning them — and waltzing back into the F-35 membership in exchange.
Nice attempt.
Even if Erdogan dumps his Russian weapons, America shouldn’t reward his double-dealing.
Let’s be blunt. Selling Erdogan our most superior fighter jet would imply arming a state sponsor of terrorism.
He isn’t some misunderstood ally gone astray, however an Islamist strongman who bankrolls and shelters Hamas.
After Hamas’ blood-soaked Oct 7 bloodbath of Israelis, Americans and others — the worst single-day slaughter of Jews because the Holocaust — Erdogan didn’t recoil in disgust. He embraced Hamas even tighter.
His regime handed Turkish passports and protected havens to Hamas leaders like Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal.
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When Haniyeh was killed in Tehran final summer time, Erdogan declared a national day of mourning and lowered flags at Turkish embassies world wide — together with in Tel Aviv.
That isn’t the act of an ally. That is the habits of an enemy hiding behind NATO membership.
Moreover, if given the F-35, Erdogan may use these extremely superior jets to menace US allies in Europe and the Mediterranean.
He has already rattled sabers at Greece, one other NATO member, by pushing his so-called “Blue Homeland” doctrine — an aggressive scheme to grab Greek waters and islands acknowledged by worldwide law.
In latest months he has threatened Athens with ballistic missiles and demanded Greece demilitarize its own islands. Imagine what he may do with a fleet of stealth jets.
Cyprus is one other sufferer: Turkey nonetheless illegally occupies a third of the island, and this 12 months Ankara even threatened Nicosia with “dangerous consequences” after it bought Israeli air protection systems.
Erdogan shopping for Russian missiles was unhealthy enough — threatening to punish neighbors for purchasing Israeli ones exhibits the depths of his hypocrisy.
And then there’s Syria. Since 2016, Turkey has launched three invasions aimed squarely on the Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s most loyal and efficient associate within the battle in opposition to ISIS.
Just this month, Ankara threatened the SDF with contemporary assaults — so handing Erdogan F-35s would put US companions in Syria squarely in his crosshairs.
Erdogan’s apologists wish to say Turkey was as soon as an important ally. True.
But that Turkey is gone.
Under Erdogan’s Islamist rule, Ankara is a destabilizing pressure — cozy with Hamas, flirtatious with Moscow and aggressive towards America’s actual allies.
Trump should not fall for Erdogan’s bait-and-switch.
The F-35 isn’t simply one other aircraft: It’s the world’s most superior stealth fighter, a weapon designed to keep America and its associates one step forward of China, Russia and Iran.
Giving that edge to a chief who praises terrorists, bullies allies and performs footsie with Moscow could be a betrayal of US pursuits.
The law is evident. The stakes are greater. And Erdogan’s file speaks for itself.
So when Erdogan sits throughout from Trump within the Oval Office and slides over his record of calls for, the president’s solely reply needs to be a blunt one: No.
Sinan Ciddi is director of the Turkey program on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the place William Doran is an intern.
