Biden-Erdogan summit resolves little, prompting sharp decline in Turkish currency
WASHINGTON, DC (Kurdistan 24) – The meeting between US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels failed to make any evident progress in addressing the issues in dispute between the US and Turkey.
The immediate result of the continuing standoff was a sharp decline in the value of the Turkish currency, which had risen earlier on investors’ hopes that key issues, like Ankara’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, would be successfully addressed.
In separate press conferences following their meeting, both the US and Turkish presidents described it as having gone well. Biden said that it had been “positive and productive,” adding, “our teams are going to continue our discussions, and I’m confident we’ll make real progress with Turkey.”
Erdogan spoke similarly. “There is a strong will for the start of a new era in all areas, based on mutual respect and interest,” he said. “There is no problem in Turkey-US relations that cannot be solved.”
However, Amberin Zaman, reporting for Al-Monitor, described the meeting and subsequent press briefings as “more spin than substance.”
That seems to be how investors saw the situation as well, and their response was negative. Since the summit, the Turkish lira fell late on Monday and then again on Tuesday for a combined 2 percent loss.
Indeed, that is pretty much what Dr. Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish parliamentarian and now Senior Director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, predicted in comments to Kurdistan 24.
Before the summit, Turkish officials were speaking optimistically about the upcoming meeting, prompting a rise in the lira’s value. Yet, as Erdemir cautioned then, “There seems to be no room for any compromise between the US and Turkish governments.”
Read More: US reaffirms opposition to Turkey’s S-400 ahead of Biden-Erdogan summit
After the summit, as Erdemir explained to Kurdistan 24, “There were no reports of any breakthroughs in Erdogan’s press conference.”
Of particular concern to Ankara is the disagreement over the S-400, which caused the US to impose sanctions on Turkey last year. Then-president Donald Trump was reluctant to do so, but he was obliged by Congressional legislation to act.
“Once investors who had hopes for some progress” in the Biden-Erdogan summit “realized that their expectations were unfulfilled, the Turkish lira has taken another nosedive, erasing any gains it made against the US dollar over the last few days,” Erdemir said.
“Public relations stunts can boost morale for a few days, but they can offer no remedy for structural problems in foreign and economic policy,” he concluded.