What does Erdoğan hope to agree on with Trump? Bloomberg forecast

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is visiting the White House today, September 25, for the first time in six years, hoping to reach a series of agreements aimed at restoring tense relations with the United States.

According to Bloomberg, citing Turkish officials, the meeting with President Donald Trump is expected to open the door for Türkiye to purchase everything from Lockheed Martin fighters and Boeing aircraft to liquefied natural gas worth over $50 billion.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders at the White House since November 2019. That visit was tense: earlier that year, after Trump promised to withdraw troops from Syria, Türkiye launched a military operation against U.S.-supported Kurdish forces (PKK/YPG terrorists), leading to a crisis in bilateral relations.

Despite this, Trump and Erdoğan get along well. The day before, they sat next to each other during the U.S. president’s meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Erdoğan called the meeting “very productive and positive.”

Both leaders could benefit from improved relations. Türkiye aims to meet part of its military and energy needs through the U.S., giving Trump an easy opportunity to secure a lucrative trade deal.

Erdoğan also wants to emphasise Türkiye’s commitment to its place in the NATO Western alliance following his reelection two years ago.

Much of the potential deals to be discussed on September 25 may be related to aviation. According to Turkish officials, Boeing and Lockheed Martin could receive orders for 250 commercial aircraft, as well as additional F-16 fighters.

Last week, Trump stated that there is a chance to resolve the long-standing deadlock over the F-35 stealth fighter. Ankara is not giving up its S-400 systems as demanded by Washington but hopes a compromise on their deployment could allow the purchase of 40 F-35 fighters.

On September 24, Türkiye announced long-term agreements with Mercuria Energy Group Ltd and Woodside Energy Group Ltd to purchase around 76 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas, primarily from U.S. plants.

Gas supplies and defence deals will help boost bilateral trade, which both countries have stated they want to triple to around $100 billion per year.

By Vugar Khalilov