Washington
- 4 days after the start of the Russian war on Ukraine, Turkey activated the Montreux Convention, which allows it to control the transit of warships of countries at war from the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits;
From here, Turkey was able to limit the movement of Russian warships between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
The Turkish position received a remarkable American welcome, and senior US officials spoke several times with their Turkish counterparts, and US President Joe Biden, in a phone call last month with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praised Ankara's position, as they affirmed their strong support for the government and people of Ukraine.
These developments prompted some experts to consider that Russia's war on Ukraine provides a good opportunity to reset the compass of US-Turkish relations, after years of tension.
S-400 deal
Relations between Washington and Ankara witnessed great tension after the United States excluded Turkey from the association of manufacturers of advanced fighter jets, "F-35" (F-35) due to Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.
The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) believes that activating the S-400 missile system would harm the F-35 fighters, their radars and computers, and the US policy regarding the S-400 deal has not changed during the Biden era than it was in the era of Former President Donald Trump.
Biden administration asks Congress not to block Turkey's F-16 sale program, citing Turkey as a NATO ally and challenges posed by the war in
Ukraine
— Ismail Kaya (@Ismail_kaya88) April 6, 2022
Turkey is trying to replace its request for F-35s with less advanced F-16s, and Ankara submitted an order last October to buy 40 F-16s and modernize 80 F-16s. -16" is owned by Turkey.
old fleet
In a previous interview with Al Jazeera Net, the director of the Turkish Studies Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Tol Gonul, said that the Turkish F-16 fleet is old, and that Ankara wanted to replace it and buy F-35 planes, and after the failure of the F-35 deal, Turkey needed to the new "F-16" aircraft to develop its air force.
Turkey has at least 270 F-16s, and it has been the backbone of the Turkish Air Force since its acquisition in the 1980s and 1990s.
Ankara has used these planes extensively and widely to carry out border patrols since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, as well as during missions targeting the PKK since 2015, as well as during Turkish operations in the Syrian province of Idlib in 2020.
A few days ago, press reports said that the Biden administration had informed Congress of its desire to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, citing the fact that the deal served US interests and strengthened the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
David de Roche, professor of security studies at the National Defense University of the Pentagon, and a former military official - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - believes that the Ukraine crisis and its broad consequences showed the importance of the Turkish role, and restored a lot of confidence in Washington's relations with Ankara, and showed Turkey as a reliable ally of the United States after years of doubts.
De Roche adds that the radars and equipment of the F-16 fighters do not raise operating problems with the Russian S-400 air defense system, as is the case with the F-35 fighters.
Is Congress tough?
Turkey's desire for the F-16 deal may encounter obstacles within congressional committees, especially with Turkey announcing plans to obtain a second batch of the S-400 system.
Completing any US arms sales requires approval by Congress, which has been increasingly critical of Ankara even after its strong stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Congressional leaders have repeatedly made clear that any future US arms exports to Turkey depend on resolving the issue of the S-400 air defense system.
The Biden administration - since taking power - has shown respect for the desire of Congress in this matter, but the crisis of Russia's war on Ukraine, and the increasing reliance on the Turkish role in NATO's strategy;
They pushed the Biden administration to back down from its previous hardening.
Security expert De Roche believes that "Congress's hardening of arms sales to Turkey is likely to decline because of what most members of Congress consider a recent Turkish move in the right direction, which was clearly demonstrated in its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine."
Ukrainian worker
Although it is a key member of NATO, Turkey has maintained close relations with Russia and Ukraine, and officially adopts neutrality in the ongoing war, but it has supported Ukraine's sovereignty over all of its territory, and provides it with many weapons and humanitarian aid.
Soner Cagatay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that the Russian war on Ukraine and Turkey's possession of a maritime border with the two countries represent an opportunity to repair relations between Ankara and Washington.
During his participation in a symposium attended by Al Jazeera Net about the repercussions of the Ukraine war on Washington's policy towards the Middle East, Cagatay called for realizing that the time has come for Washington to engage Ankara in deeper strategic talks to discuss the outstanding issues between Ankara and Washington.
"These deliberations should focus on reaching a grand bargain that includes the following elements: increasing bilateral cooperation on Ukraine, increasing bilateral cooperation on human rights, canceling the S-400 deal, reviewing Washington's policy toward Kurdish forces in Syria, and inviting Turkey to rejoin the program," the expert added. manufacturing the F-35, and seeking congressional approval for F-16 sales to Ankara."