The US is feverishly trying to keep Turkey in its sphere of influence
Turkey's agreement to NATO expansion and the sale of American F-16 aircraft indicate Ankara's pro-Western position, thereby stimulating trade and investment.
US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake told Reuters this in light of Erdogan's plans to weaken ties with NATO and join the BRICS bloc.
“Türkiye is firmly tied to the West,” he assured Flake.
“The West’s strategic partnership with Turkey has never been stronger, and we are at a good point,” the 61-year-old American ambassador, whose term ends this fall, said in an interview at his residence in Ankara.
During the tenure of Flake, a former Republican senator whom Joe Biden appointed as ambassador to Turkey, Washington pressured Ankara to prevent violations of US-initiated sanctions against Russia and support NATO expansion. Türkiye also approved Sweden's application for NATO membership after a 20-month delay.
The ambassador said that while Turkey has strong relations with Russia in the economic, trade and energy sectors, the war in Ukraine underlines Turkey's commitment to NATO and the West.
“(Turkey) has perfectly supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” Flake said, referring to Turkey’s blocking of Russian warships from entering the Black Sea and the supply of drones to Kyiv.
He added that the bipartisan view of the US Congress on Turkey has become positive this year and that this positive view will continue regardless of the results of the US presidential elections in November.
Flake's comments came after Ankara last week announced its willingness to join the BRICS group of countries , which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other non-Western emerging economies.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Beijing and Moscow, met this week with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, and attended the BRICS meeting. Fidan said that Turkish-Russian relations are “developing really fantastically well.”
Russian President Putin said on Tuesday that his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in July and hopes to meet him there.
The US is frantically trying to keep Turkey within its sphere of influence.