6.3-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey: Latest Updates
ANKARA – When Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken first planned a trip to Turkey, it promised to be a difficult, even controversial, diplomatic visit.
Washington and Ankara were at odds on several key issues, including Turkey’s relations with Russia, its refusal to allow Sweden and Finland to join NATO, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies. Turkey has been so resentful in many ways in recent years that Mr Blinken, in his confirmation hearing, described Ankara as a “so-called ally” and had not visited it in two years.
But less than two weeks before Mr Blinken was scheduled to arrive, a devastating earthquake in Turkey claimed more than 40,000 lives. The disaster temporarily eclipsed other concerns and presented the Biden administration with a chance to strengthen an old alliance and gain some confidence as they try to settle their differences.
The United States mobilized a major relief effort, sending elite search and rescue teams, heavy equipment, $85 million in humanitarian assistance, and at least another $80 million in private donations. When Mr Blinken landed at Incirlik Air Force Base near the Turkish city of Adana on Sunday, he took a helicopter to tour the earthquake damage nearby and the US military’s relief efforts at the base, before paying another $100 million in American aid announced.
At a press conference in Ankara on Monday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Mr. Blinken spoke like an unconditionally loving friend.
“The United States is here to support you in your time of need, and we will be with you for as long as it takes to recover and rebuild,” he said. Hours later, a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the already devastated city of Antakya in southern Turkey, causing more buildings to collapse.
Mr. Blinken’s message was returned. Asked if American aid would make it easier to resolve other issues, Mr. Cavusoglu replied that “of course, the solidarity shown in difficult times will have a positive impact on relations.”
This is good news for the Biden administration. While US officials regularly find Mr. Erdogan frustrating, they cannot afford to turn their backs on a country whose location and NATO membership give it enormous strategic importance. Washington also appreciates Turkey’s influence in the Muslim world.
And recently, Mr. Erdogan has offered himself as a potential peace mediator between Russia and Ukraine and brokered a key deal between them to allow much-needed Ukrainian food products to be shipped to the outside world.
But a sober State Department readout of Mr Blinken’s Monday meeting with the Turkish leader gave few indications as to whether the men are making real progress in resolving the issue, despite the goodwill the United States deserves at a moment of national tragedy have made many fundamental disputes between their countries.
Most pressing is the issue of NATO’s expansion to include Finland and Sweden, two countries that abandoned longstanding nonaligned policies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The expansion plan was unveiled with much fanfare nine months ago and hailed by President Biden as a major setback for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
But admitting new nations to NATO requires the unanimous approval of its 30 member states, and Mr Erdogan has so far refused. He surprised Western leaders with bitter complaints that Sweden and Finland were too accommodating towards the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish nationalist group that has long carried out attacks in Turkey, and that both Ankara and Washington consider a terrorist organization.
The Turkish leader is still holding out after months of negotiations, despite promises by the Swedes and Finns to take a harder line on PKK activists and supporters operating within their borders. Turkey has asked for her extradition to face charges. (Turkey now says its issues with Finland are largely resolved, but that Sweden has much more work to do.)
Some US officials believe Mr Erdogan may behave before national elections scheduled for May. After 20 years in power, he has lost popularity and is seeking another term as president. But no one is sure what exactly is going through Mr. Erdogan’s mind.
In Congress, lawmakers have begun to signal Mr. Erdogan that he may pay a heavy price for his disability: 27 senators from both parties signed a letter in early February vowing to prevent the Biden administration from launching F-16s – Sell fighter jets to Turkey unless Mr Erdogan signs Swedish and Finnish membership.
Noting on Monday that the Biden administration supports the sale of fighter jets, Mr. Blinken said it is important to the US that its NATO allies have modern, integrated equipment. Although he said the Biden administration is not tying the proposed sale to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, he added that he had raised the matter with Congress and expressed confidence that the new applicants would eventually be admitted would.
But Mr Cavusoglu, standing next to him, gave no indication that Turkey was ready to back down and complained that pro-PKK “activities” in Stockholm “are continuing”.
Mr. Cavusoglu also suggested that the Biden administration could pressure Congress to secure F-16 sales if it so desires. “If the US government has a firm stance and we work together, we believe we can overcome this resistance,” he said.
Mr Cavusoglu, in response to a question, acknowledged that US officials had expressed concern that trade between Russia and his country – which has not signed Western sanctions against Moscow – has been booming since the start of the war in Ukraine and helped fill Russia’s war chest.
But he tried to downplay the problem, saying figures showing an increase in trade between Turkey and Russia largely reflected higher energy prices. He said claims that Turkey was a conduit for military-grade technology denied to Russia by sanctions are “inaccurate” and that Turkey will take action against proven violations.
Mr Blinken did not comment on other points of friction. One is Mr Erdogan’s authoritarian policies, which included a crackdown on Turkish civil society, the news media and political opposition, and resulted in Turkey’s being excluded from a democracy summit hosted by Mr Biden at the White House last year.
Mr Blinken also failed to mention concerns in Washington that the Turkish leader could use the earthquake as an excuse to suspend his country’s spring elections for selfish reasons.
The secretary seemed more determined on this trip to shine a spotlight on America’s response to the earthquake. After touring earthquake damage with Mr Cavusoglu in a Turkish military helicopter, Mr Blinken joined a line of NATO soldiers loading boxes of electric and gas heaters onto a flatbed truck for distribution. He then personally thanked the two 80-strong American search and rescue teams that were deployed to Turkey shortly after the quake.
Mr Blinken also seemed to show goodwill in another way: by pronouncing the name of his host country according to his government’s preference. The Turks want the world to stop using a name that in English is a clumsy, flight-prone bird and sometimes an insult.
For over a year, the government demanded that the country be known internationally as “Türkiye”, with three syllables as it is in Turkish, and now uses that name at the United Nations. The US State Department officially began doing so last month.
In his remarks, Mr Blinken made sure to adopt the new debate.