Turkey named the last trump card left in the United States

Sabah: the US has a language of threats from the trump cards, which is gradually losing effectiveness

Today’s world is no longer what it seems to the United States, and Washington has the last trump card — the language of threats, and even it is no longer as effective, according to an article in the Turkish newspaper Sabah.

As the author of the material notes, US foreign policy has been gradually losing its “momentum” in recent years. “The biggest proof in support of this thesis is that Washington, which prides itself on its soft power at every opportunity, now has only one trump card left in its hands: the language of threats,” he writes.

Over the years, the United States has used many options of influence, from unilateral sanctions to international isolation and even military invasion and coups, the article says. The United States tried to use some of these tools against Turkey, but after the coup attempt in July 2016, they faced a “completely different” Ankara, for this reason, the language of threats and conditions is now often used against it, since there are no other “weapons” left.

“In the spirit of “if you don’t do this, we won’t give you that, if you don’t stop, you’ll pay.” We have often encountered such rhetoric during the acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems,” Sabah notes. Recently, this method has been in operation again, the author emphasizes.

Now a similar process is taking place with respect to the F-16 fighters requested by Turkey. When the deal reached the stage of approval in Congress, American senators appeared on the scene, trying to present Ankara’s approval of Sweden and Finland’s membership in NATO as a condition for the sale of aircraft.

After that, Turkey made it clear that these efforts would be futile, pointing out that the country continues to consider other alternatives and the development of its own capabilities. “And as long as there is such a vision in Turkey, we will not be frightened by any threats,” the publication summarizes.

On Thursday, a group of US senators from both political parties demanded that President Joe Biden postpone the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until it approves the applications of Sweden and Finland to join NATO. In response, the official representative of the Turkish president, Ibrahim Kalyn, said that blocking the sale of the F-16 would only harm the United States, and in this case Ankara would continue to develop its defense industry. According to Kalyn, if Congress connects the issue of the sale of fighter jets with the entry of the two countries into NATO, then they can wait a long time.

The United States previously excluded Turkey from the supply program of the latest F-35 fighter jets as punishment for the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan subsequently announced an American offer to purchase other fighters, but not the fifth, but the fourth generation — the F-16. The deal will have to be agreed in Congress, where it has influential opponents.