(Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s purchase of an advanced Russian missile system will top the agenda for Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday, a “critical” meeting that’s set to shape the future of ties with the U.S., the Turkish president’s top aide said.
Turkey’s relationship with its key NATO ally has been strained by a series of rows, from disagreements over the Turkish offensive in Syria to Ankara’s decision to purchase the Russian-made S-400 air defense system.
Erdogan sees this week’s encounter at the White House as crucial to reconcile those differences, his Communications Director Fahrettin Altun told Bloomberg late Monday.
But obstacles to improved relations remain. Erdogan insists the Russian system will be activated soon, defying calls from Washington to hold off.
In Syria, where Americans have long been allied with Kurdish forces that Turkey regards as terrorists, Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops led to an invasion by Turkish forces. The military campaign against the Kurds touched off an international outcry and led to demands by members of both parties in Congress for sanctions against the Erdogan government.
Even before the Syria crisis, U.S. lawmakers were pushing the administration to impose sanctions on Ankara for buying the Russian military hardware, citing risks to the American F-35 fighter jet. Turkey was suspended from the joint program that produces the warplane because of the purchase.
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“We have repeatedly expressed our stance” on the S-400s, Altun said, referring to Erdogan’s long-held view that the Russian missiles are absolutely necessary for Turkey’s national security.
“Geopolitics require Turkey to have multiple air and missile defense systems. When we expressed our desire to buy the Patriots, the U.S. set a condition for us to not purchase the S-400s,” Altun said, referring to the Patriot missiles manufactured by Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) Co.
Erdogan said late last week that he was prepared to buy Patriots if the terms were right.
Altun’s remarks highlight the difficulty of reconciling Turkey’s position on air defense with that of Washington, a rift that has threatened to derail the decades-long alliance between the two countries.
“I’m confident Erdogan and Trump will have an honest discussion on this. I believe the two leaders can find a solution that’s acceptable and can be implemented,” he added.