US President Joe Biden is all set to host Turkey’s Erdoğan in the White House on the 9th of May. This visit is being seen by many as Biden’s attempt to woo an estranged NATO ally at a time when a) the US “war effort” against Russia in Ukraine has persistently failed to achieve desired results, i.e., a military defeat of Russia, and when Turkey is one leading country in the Middle East that has, unlike its counterparts in the Gulf, taken a consistently anti-Israel and pro-Palestine position. Earlier this month, Turkey announced a ban on certain exports to Israel. Last week, when the US attempted to issue a joint statement condemning Iran’s “attack” on Israel, it became a diplomatic fiasco. One of the key reasons that turned this effort into a failure is Turkey’s decision not to sign the joint statement. While many other countries also refused to support the US, Turkey’s decision specifically divided the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). In fact, the fiasco at the UN showed that the US influence is now reduced to Europe, but even that influence is fractured due to Turkey’s strong exercise of strategic autonomy, making it crucial for the US to push for a rapprochement.

Turkey-US ties experienced rapid deterioration when the Trump administration, due to Turkey’s decision to buy Russian air defence systems, kicked Turkey out of the F-35 programme in 2019. The Pentagon said at the time that Turkey could always be welcomed back into the programme if it got rid of the Russian S-400 system. In classical terms, this was a typical US way of telling Turkey that exercising strategic autonomy and taking legitimate steps for self-defence cannot work in the US-led world. Turkey has not gotten rid of the Russian S-400 system, which........

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