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Turkey’s ties with US won’t improve under Trump, but dialogue will become easier — expert

According to political scientist and economist Aydin Sezer, the issue of Syria and the Syrian Kurds will remain a serious problem

ANKARA, January 20. /TASS/. Relations between Turkey and the US under the elected President Donald Trump are unlikely to improve, and the issue of the Kurds will remain problematic, Aydin Sezer, political scientist and economist, former Turkish trade representative to Russia, said in a conversation with TASS.

"They have an opinion in Turkey, especially in pro-government media, that Turkish-American relations will improve dramatically and develop as soon as Trump takes office. I don't think this will be the case. If you remember, decisions on sanctions due to Turkey's purchase of S-400 systems from Russia and Turkey's exclusion from the F-35 project were on the agenda during Trump's previous term. Of course, compared to the dialogue President Tayyip Erdogan had with Joe Biden, it will be much easier for him to communicate with Trump," the experts noted.

According to Sezer, the issue of Syria and the Syrian Kurds will remain a serious problem. He recalled that in 2019, when Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria, Trump wrote a letter to Erdogan "with insults and a demand to stop the war against the Kurds."

"In addition, it is worth recalling that Trump was the first to address Mazloum Abdi (commander of the Kurdish coalition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - TASS), calling him "general". His support for the Kurds will be more aggressive," Sezer believes.

From Ankara's point of view, Washington should stop any support for the Kurds in the region, and the SDF includes the People's Defense Units of Syrian Kurds, which are considered terrorist in Turkey. According to the expert, under Trump "one should not expect a solution to the structural problems in relations between Turkey and the United States."

There is even a risk of "an increase in problematic issues," although "Erdogan will look for ways to work in harmony with Trump in a number of areas, especially in order to receive loans and financial support."

As for the situation in the Middle East, Trump and his administration - as it has been the case over the past two months - will put pressure on Israel and behave quite harshly with it, but still taking into account the interests of this state.

"In the coming period, Trump will take important steps regarding the security of the region in accordance with the demands of Israel and especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, after the collapse of the resistance axis, after the overthrow of [former Syrian President Bashar] Assad, it seems that Trump has nothing to do with Israel. He has already expanded his occupation zone in the Golan Heights. Trump is an element here that creates a balance between Israel and the Arab world," Sezer noted.