Finally, the much-awaited meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the U.S. President Donald Trump took place on May 16. Despite the negative propaganda campaign that was conducted for days before the meeting, the picture that emerged following the meeting was positive in terms of both Turkey-U.S. relations and relations between the two leaders.
Neither side is willing to cut ties with each other. Even this factor is a serious failure for the power groups pressing upon Turkey over the past few years. The groups wishing to isolate Turkey have so far conducted a large-scale operation to manipulate opinions via the media.
Interestingly, the same groups have also blockaded Trump within the U.S. Even though Trump was democratically elected, he does not have full command over the state yet. All the establishment figures, including the Pentagon and the CIA, are forcing Trump to implement older policies while exerting the utmost effort to unseat him. The meeting of the two leaders took place in the shadow of this blockade.
Another aspect affecting the meeting was Erdoğan's meetings in India, China and Russia directly before heading to the U.S. The center of the world is now shifting towards the East. And Turkey is a key country in this new order due to its position as an energy corridor and the New Silk Road project that will become the future axis of trade by connecting Beijing to London.
With his remarks, Trump indicated that he received the message Turkey wished to convey, which is reminiscent of the words of the late İsmet İnönü in 1964, "Turkey will find itself a place in the new world." Trump's emphasis on Turkey's regional and global significance was not arbitrary. Although there are some missing details for now, several important aspects stand out when the outcome is considered within this framework.
First of all, although he does not have full command over the state yet, Trump displayed his willingness to improve relations with Turkey while showing that he understands Turkey's concerns about the safe zone in Syria and the organizations including the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Secondly, by referring to the PKK terror group along with the name of Daesh, Trump signaled that the PKK might be excluded from the equation in the new period just like the outlawed Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), which was finally dissolved in the early 1990s.
Despite this, President Erdoğan's warning regarding the relations between the PYD, the PKK and the People's Protection Units (YPG) was necessary, and marked the direction of the steps that will be taken from now on. It will be no surprise if some major developments with regard to the PYD and the PKK are seen in Syria in the near future.
The third important subject matter for Turkey was what steps the U.S. administration would take against FETÖ. However, this subject will likely be discussed for a long time since it is not easy to take measures against the coup attempting organization in the presence of the U.S. establishment. For this, a complete discharge of the former administration is required. Also, deporting FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen will remain short of resolving the problem.
The course of events may change unless Trump has an accident. FETÖ can be rapidly purged not only at the level of leadership, but as an institution. Since the terrorist group is aware of this, it is desperately attacking both Turkey and Trump while siding with the CIA.
As for Turkey, there is a wide range of options in terms of creating new policies in the near future, since Turkey has many opportunities when viewed through the lens of the progress of the new world, global opportunities and partnerships instead of considering the relations of some states with regional groups.