A veil of mystery surrounds Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington to meet Joe Biden at the White House. The issue of a possible cancellation started after a report by Odatv, which said that the planned May 9 visit of the Turkish president to Washington will not take place.
Despite this, the publication published by the specific media was not refuted by the “Misinformation Countering Center” of the Communication Directorate of the Turkish presidency, as it usually does in cases of fake news. Also, this news was not reproduced by any other “systemic” Turkish media, rather it was republished only by a few websites.
What Kirby said during the briefing
A few days later, during the White House press briefing, John Kirby was asked about this meeting. The reporter asked “In two weeks, President Erdogan is expected to visit the White House. Last Saturday, he hosted the leader of Hamas. Will this be a matter of discussion, or would it jeopardize the visit?’
The National Security Adviser replied that “There is nothing on the schedule to talk about in terms of President Erdogan’s visit. So I don’t really have a comment on that.”
Asked about the Turkish president’s hosting of the Hamas leader, Kirby replied, “Again, I’ll let President Erdogan talk about the meetings he has. We have been very clear about our position on Hamas and who they are and what they stand for. I’ll leave it at that.”
“There is no scheduled visit,” Kirby replied to a question about Erdogan
“The meeting will go ahead as usual,” says Bloomberg
On the other hand, a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, states that President Erdogan will meet with Joe Biden at the White House as usual on May 9.
Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Washington comes as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza continues and after Iran and Israel attacked each other’s soil, raising fears that a wider Middle East conflict may be looming.
The two leaders are also meeting at a sensitive time in their political careers. Biden faces a rematch with his 2020 opponent, former President Donald Trump, in the November election.
Earlier this year, Turkey resolved a dispute with the US that had delayed the sale of F-16 fighter jets. In a delicately orchestrated deal, Ankara agreed to support Sweden joining NATO and Greece to buy fighter jets from the US. Biden explicitly made the sale of the F-16s conditional on Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s accession to NATO.
What are the Turkish media writing?
Two days after Odatv’s report, and with no other Turkish media having picked up on the issue, CNN Turk’s Washington correspondent said after an exchange of messages: “There’s nothing official yet, but it’s going to be canceled.” .
Following this, came the first reaction from the US side, specifically the US embassy in Ankara, which said “if Erdoğan’s visit to Washington has been cancelled”. “At this time there is no announcement regarding the visit to the White House. There is no change in our plans for high-level contacts at every opportunity,” the US embassy replied, and recommended for answers about “the travels of Turkish officials.”
After these reactions, the journalist Abdulkadir Selvi writes in his extensive article in the pro-government newspaper Hurriyet, that there was no confirmation or denial regarding the news (including the cancellation of the trip) and that the preparations are continuing normally. “There has been no information from the US about the cancellation of President Erdogan’s visit to the US. There is no reason to cancel the visit to the USA.
They are making regular preparations for the Biden-Erdogan meeting that will take place on May 9,” says the Turkish journalist. Citing his own Turkish sources on the other hand, he emphasizes that “no order at all has been sent to the relevant agencies by President Erdogan to cancel the trip to the USA”.
The opposition Cumhuriyet, for its part, refers to behind-the-scenes information according to which Washington warned Ankara that if it hosts Hamas, in the event that Qatar removes the Palestinian organization from its territory, then there will be consequences, including the cancellation of Erdoğan’s visit.
