Erdogan postpones US visit to meet Biden, official says

(Bloomberg) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan postponed a planned trip to Washington to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on May 9, according to a senior official familiar with the matter.

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Turkey decided to postpone the visit, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity, specifying only that the delay was linked to a change in Erdogan's schedule. A White House spokesperson said a meeting was never announced. But officials from both countries privately confirmed they were planning the visit.

Turkey and the United States will discuss a new date for Erdogan's visit, the senior official said, without elaborating. U.S. officials, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that the Turkish side had backed out of the visit but that the Turkish president might wish to come later at a more convenient time.

Planning for the meeting coincided with mutual efforts to strengthen defense and trade ties at a time when the war between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza and after Iran and Israel attacked each other their territories, generating fears that a broader conflict in the Middle East is approaching. Turkey is a key US ally in the Middle East and also provides some military support to Ukraine against invading Russian forces.

The postponed meeting would come at a delicate moment in their political careers. Biden faces a rematch with his 2020 opponent, former President Donald Trump, in the November election. A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll this week found that Biden is leading in only one of the seven states most likely to determine the outcome.

Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, suffered an embarrassing defeat in last month's municipal elections, with voters across the country turning against his AK party. Although it is difficult to draw parallels, inflation in both countries has contributed to a sense of gloom and anger toward the governments in power.

Erdogan, however, continues to play a leading role on the international scene. On Friday, for example, he received Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Istanbul, as Rutte sought the Turkish president's support to become the next NATO secretary general.

Read more: Turkey appears to back Rutte for NATO chief post after Erdogan meeting

Last weekend, Erdogan met with Hamas' political leader to discuss a possible permanent ceasefire and accelerated humanitarian aid to Gaza. Unlike the United States and the European Union, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

Turkey and the United States recently held talks to improve security and energy ties and step up purchases of Turkish explosives to support Ukraine against Russia. The two countries have confirmed plans to jointly produce 155mm artillery shells by next year that Ukraine desperately needs against Russian forces. With the two largest militaries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, they have good reason to maintain their seven-decade-old alliance.

Yet relations have been strained for years over Turkey's acquisition of a Russian S-400 missile defense system and U.S. support for a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey considers a deadly threat, among other disputes.

The United States sold $23 billion worth of F-16 fighter jets, missiles and bombs to Turkey after Ankara ratified Sweden's NATO membership in January.

Turkey now wants the United States to lift sanctions imposed on its defense industry over the S-400 system, which NATO members fear poses a risk to advanced F-stealth warplanes. 35. Erdogan is expected to negotiate repayment of $1.4 billion that Turkey previously paid to the United States for the purchase of the plane.

U.S. officials have long demanded that Ankara get rid of the S-400s, but Turkey has indicated it would prefer to keep them, even if it means not being able to buy F-35s.

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