Bloomberg: Turkey wants to establish ties with the US due to disagreements with Russia

According to the sources of the agency, Ankara also hopes that establishing ties with the Biden administration will increase its chances of concluding arms deals

The flags of NATO, the United States of America and Turkey line The Mall in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts were gathering in London Tuesday to mark the alliance’s 70th birthday amid deep tensions as spats between leaders expose a lack of unity that risks undermining military organization’s credibility. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Turkey looks forward to improved relations with its NATO partners through closer ties with the administration of US President-elect Joseph Biden. This was reported by Bloomberg on Friday, citing sources.

According to informed persons, the Turkish authorities, led by President Tayyip Erdogan, intend to review the country’s foreign policy, which may be prompted by several factors. For example, according to the agency, Turkey is afraid of possible EU restrictions against it. The European Parliament has previously adopted a resolution calling on EU member states to impose severe sanctions against Turkey because of its behaviour in the Mediterranean Sea. EU-Turkey relations will be the focus of the EU Heads of State and Government’s summit on 10-11 December.

At the same time, according to Bloomberg, Ankara’s foreign policy review may be pushed by “growing disagreements” with Moscow against the background of their divergent interests in Libya and Syria. This may also be helped by the deterioration of relations between the two countries after “Turkey invaded Russia’s backyard in the Caucasus by supporting Azerbaijan” in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to the agency’s sources, Erdogan expects that “Biden’s faith in inter-state organisations and transatlantic relations” will help Turkey to establish relations with NATO partners. However, according to Bloomberg, Ankara hopes that establishing ties with the Biden administration will increase its chances of concluding arms deals.