As President Joe Biden looks to muster up international support for Ukraine against Russian battlefield advances and temper criticism of his support for Israel amid its ongoing war in Gaza, the U.S. leader faces an influential dissenting voice from ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In written responses shared exclusively with Newsweek as the Turkish leader arrived in Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO summit, Erdogan argued that Western powers were taking wrong and potentially dangerous approaches to the two conflicts, both of which he warned had the potential to spiral into far larger confrontations engulfing the Eastern European and Middle Eastern regions that his nation straddles.
On Ukraine, the spotlight issue of the annual NATO gathering, Erdogan reaffirmed his stance that "we will not be a party to this war" in spite of Biden's calls for greater NATO solidarity against Russia. With pledges of further military aid to Kyiv emanating from Western capitals in the lead-up to the summit, Erdogan was deeply critical of his allies' strategy.
"The solution is not more bloodshed and suffering, but rather a lasting peace achieved through dialogue," Erdogan told Newsweek. "The attitude of some of our Western allies towards Russia has only fueled the fire. This has resulted in more harm than good for Ukraine. In contrast, we have engaged in dialogue with both warring parties in an effort to bring them closer to peace."
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.
Turkey, formally known as Türkiye, has, in fact, supplied critical munitions to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a total war in the form of a "special military operation" on February 24, 2022, most notably internationally renowned Bayraktar TB2 attack drones. At the same time, however, Erdogan has emerged as one of the few world leaders who has managed to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the table in the midst of Europe's deadliest war in decades.
Just weeks after the war began, Turkey hosted Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul and, while the initiative ultimately unraveled, Ankara managed to secure one of the only deals to receive buy-in from both sides, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, that July. This deal also later collapsed, but Erdogan has since voiced his willingness to host new Russia-Ukraine talks at a time when Putin has outlined a list of conditions to end to the war.
Erdogan is also one of the few NATO heads of state to maintain working ties with Putin, whom he met just last week for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana. The relationship between the two men, both of whom have been in office for more than two decades, extends far beyond Ukraine and counts a history of savvy diplomatic arrangements made despite Turkey and Russia's opposing positions in conflicts in Syria, Libya and the Caucasus region. Today, Erdogan defies the dominant NATO logic of excluding the Russian leader.
"We approach issues with sincerity and rational road maps rather than with codes from hidden agendas and emotional reflexes," Erdogan said. "We are moving forward by calling out what is right and what is wrong. It is impossible to proceed with such sensitive processes while acting like a bull in a china shop."
"We do not develop a policy that is ensnared in prejudices; rather, we approach problems from a perspective that emphasizes reasonableness and solutions," he added. "Naturally, we do not agree with Mr. Putin on everything, However, we are able to discuss matters amongst ourselves and delve into the specifics of how to resolve them."
Erdogan also spoke of his commitment to overcoming obstacles in his relationship with Biden, noting the "deep-rooted" nature of U.S.-Turkey relations that "alternates between periods of tranquility and periods of turbulence."
Recent breakthroughs include Erdogan's decision to withdraw his veto of Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO in exchange for assurances that the long-neutral Nordic states would take stronger action against Turkey-designated terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and followers of cleric Fetullah Gülen, whose movement Ankara classifies as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Yet Erdogan continues to accuse the Biden administration of failing to take sufficient action against these groups, particularly as the U.S. supports the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria and hosts Gülen himself at his rural Pennsylvania compound. The Turkish leader states that "Mr. Biden and I have different views on this matter."
Erdogan also says he and his U.S. counterpart "have different views with respect to human rights," an issue he links directly to another explosive conflict that has captured the world's attention.
"We believe that the brutal murder of innocent people by Israel in hospitals where they go for treatment, in ambulances, in marketplaces, in centers where humanitarian aid is distributed, and in areas defined as safe is the gravest violation of human rights," Erdogan said.
"The US administration, however, disregards these violations and provides Israel with the most support," he added. "They do so at the expense of being complicit in these violations."
Erdogan has emerged as one of the most influential international critics of Israel's campaign in Gaza launched in response to an unprecedented surprise attack conducted by the Palestinian Hamas movement on October 7 of last year.
In May, Erdogan announced the severing of all trade ties with Israel and has continued to demand a total halt to attacks by Israeli forces, their full withdrawal from Gaza and the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to the war-torn territory. He also advocates for a two-state solution to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Israel's threats against the countries of the region, particularly Lebanon, and its attempts to spread the conflict across the region must stop," Erdogan said. "Otherwise, our region faces a greater risk of deeper conflicts and even war."
The Turkish leader expressed similar concerns over an uncontrolled escalation should the current course continue in the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that "the prospect of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is undoubtedly concerning" and "any steps that could lead to this outcome must be deliberately avoided."
Concerns over a deteriorating international order on various fronts have also informed Erdogan's push to look beyond the West. Erdogan has openly expressed his nation's interest in joining BRICS and the SCO, two multilateral blocs backed by China, Russia, India, Iran and other powers seeking to establish greater multipolarity in global power structures.
The SCO, of which Turkey is already an established dialogue partner, also includes fellow Turkic states Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with which Ankara further develops ties through the Organization of Turkic States.
While none of these coalitions constitutes a NATO-like military alliance and Erdogan stresses that the goal is not to establish any "alternative" to existing structures, the Turkish leader views such engagement as critical to avoiding an even larger battle among great powers now locked in a fierce competition of rival interests across the globe.
"No explanation is needed as to the ultimate destination of a world in which all nations are confined to their own borders, where sharp poles are established," Erdogan said. "These bitter experiences are evident to those who study the two world wars in history."
"In this respect, we are in a unique position. We preserve and strengthen our position as a reliable partner in all structures in which we are involved," he added. "That is why, as a NATO member, we do not consider it a problem to interact with countries in the SCO, BRICS, the European Union, or the Organization of Turkic States. We even believe that these relationships contribute to world peace."