The incoming Biden administration's foreign policy priorities and worldview are expected to clash with those of the Turkish government on several issues, Axios reported on Wednesday.
The strain in relations is expected, despite the U.S. needing its NATO ally for Turkey’s efforts to contain Russia and counter Iran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan established a close personal relationship with President Donal Trump, who did not sanction Ankara over business dealings with Iran and its purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system, as well as giving him an almost free hand in his military operations in Syria.
In contrast, a diplomatic crisis occurred in 2014 when then-Vice President Joe Biden publicly called Erdoğan an ''autocra'' and said he would back the efforts of the opposition to defeat him. Biden also implied that Turkey aided the rise of ISIS by allowing foreign fighters to cross the border into Syria, a statement for which he later had to offer an official apology.
Following the U.S. elections, Erdoğan was the last leader of a NATO ally to recognize Biden’s victory, and he recently criticized Biden again for the 2014 remarks after they went viral in Turkey.
Erdoğan said following a recent Cabinet meeting that ''Politicians in the U.S. don't even feel the need to hide their fascist plans about Turkey. They also don't hesitate to say in front of cameras that they want to achieve what they couldn't do with a coup by supporting the opposition."
Later, Erdoğan appeared to send an olive branch by saying that Ankara’s place is nowhere other than in Europe and that he wants to cooperate more closely with the U.S.
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