Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is cautiously optimistic for relations between Türkiye and the United States under the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump.
In his first term, President-elected Trump pursued a seesawing policy regarding Türkiye with disagreements over several issues. Still, relations were relatively worse under his successor Joe Biden.
Speaking to broadcaster A Haber late Saturday, Fidan said Trump’s candidates for government posts were mostly pro-Israeli names, “which is not surprising.”
“I hope Mr. Trump will stand by his pledge to prevent any new conflicts,” Fidan said. Türkiye is a firm opponent of Israel’s genocidal policy in the Palestinian territories and seeks to rally the international community to stop the Netanyahu administration, especially in light of the spillover of the conflict into Lebanon and other regional countries.
The top diplomat said Trump had a strong personal relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “I don’t think we will have a major problem in understanding the new U.S. government, to see their reflexes,” he said.
Fidan said they witnessed a blatant genocide in Gaza when Democrats were in power in the United States. “What’s the worst that could happen? We certainly predict some negative developments on this matter under Republicans. We hope Mr. Trump will assess this situation,” he said.
He also commented on the U.S. stance on the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian wing YPG, which controls northeastern parts of Türkiye’s neighbor Syria. Türkiye has repeatedly aired its concerns to Washington over the latter’s support of the terrorist group, which targeted Turkish border towns in the past. The United States is accused of arming the group under the guise of a joint fight against the terrorist group Daesh.
Fidan said Ankara has repeatedly told its American “friends” and others that Türkiye would target any entity threatening it, “regardless of their affiliates.” “Countries in and outside the region should understand Türkiye’s counterterrorism goals well. We are now pursuing an expansionist policy. We simply switched from a defensive strategy to a preventive strategy,” he said.
The Turkish military and intelligence service, which was once headed by Fidan, stepped up military strikes in Iraq and Syria in recent years. Ankara defines this new approach as “draining the swamp” or “stamping out the terrorism at its source.” The PKK uses Iraq and Syria as a launchpad for its attacks on Türkiye.
On U.S. support for Israel, Fidan said Israel’s attacks on Gaza would not stop “as long as Israel, the United States and their supporters do not pay a price for what they’ve done.”
