The Erdoğan-Trump Meeting
During the UNGA 80’s “High-level Week 2025″, Türkiye remained focused on President Erdoğan’s visit to the White House. In advance of the visit, Ankara terminated retaliatory tariffs imposed in 2018 on US imports, ranging from passenger cars to fruit. It deployed an advanced AWACS radar plane to Lithuania as part of NATO measures against Russia’s airspace violations.
Following Mr. Trump’s meeting with the leaders of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the UAE, President Erdoğan said that the meeting was “very fruitful”. During the meeting, Mr. Trump proposed a 21-point “peace plan” for Gaza, including the release of all hostages, a permanent ceasefire, a transitional Palestinian governing body administering the Strip before it is handed over to a “reformed” Palestinian Authority.[i]
Two interviews—first by President Erdoğan, second by Secretary Rubio, both for Fox News—and remarks by the US Ambassador to Ankara, Tom Barrack, sparked widespread controversy in Türkiye about the visit.
Before and after Mr. Erdoğan left for New York, Türkiye’s main opposition party, CHP (Republican People’s Party), criticized him for constantly targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu, but saying a word about President Trump’s support for him. Interestingly, President Lula of Brazil, in his address to the UNGA last week, said, “… this massacre would not have happened without the complicity of those who could have prevented it.”
On September 22, 2025, President Erdoğan, responding to a question about ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, during his Fox News interview, said, “As you might remember, President Trump made a statement. He said, ‘I will end the Russia-Ukraine war.’ Did it end? No, it still goes on. Similarly, he said, ‘I will end the war in Gaza.’ Did it end? No.”
The next day, during an interview with Fox News, Secretary Rubio was asked what he thought about President Erdoğan’s remarks. While admitting that he had not heard the entirety of the interview, he said:
“The truth of the matter is that we have leaders – we have meetings going on today that we have leaders begging to be a part of it. They are calling and saying: Can we be included? Can you bring us in? Can you get me five minutes to shake the President’s hand? He is the indispensable leader in the world right now. He is the only one who has any chance of not just brokering a deal to end the war with Russia and Ukraine, but also bringing about the war that’s going – and getting all the hostages released in Gaza.”
President Erdoğan’s office responded with a statement that said that his message was lost in translation; in fact, he was drawing attention to the difficulties in ending wars and was appreciative of Mr. Trump’s efforts. President Erdoğan had spoken in Turkish during the interview, and the translation was accurate.
On September 24, 2025, speaking at the 2025 Concordia Summit panel “Voices of Diplomacy: Shaping America’s Role in the World”, Tom Barrack, the US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria, already a controversial figure, revealed Trump’s new approach to resolving decade-old disputes between the NATO allies. Barrack said, “Türkiye is a democracy, but it’s kind of authoritarian.” And he praised Trump’s approach as “genius” for recognizing that providing legitimacy could resolve longstanding disputes.
President Trump had told him, ‘I’m tired of all of this. Let’s take a bold move and on a relationship to relationship basis, give them what they need.'” Barrack quoted Trump as saying. When asked what Türkiye needed, Trump responded: “legitimacy.”[ii]
The summit was held on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Before the two sides started the talks, President Trump, as usual, made comments to the media.
He showered his guest with words of praise. (Surely, Mr. Netanyahu will not be as lucky today.)
He said, “It’s a pleasure to be with President Erdoğan of Turkey, and we’ve been friends for a long time, actually, even for four years when I was in exile unfairly, as it turns out, rigged elections, you know, he knows about rigged elections better than anybody, but when I was in exile, we were still friends.”
He highlighted Mr. Erdoğan’s role in Syria, saying he was responsible for the success of the efforts to oust Syria’s dictator, Bashar Assad.
Mr. Trump told his guest that he would like Türkiye to stop buying Russian oil.
Just a few days before, during his interview with Fox News, President Erdoğan had acknowledged Türkiye’s well-established relations with Russia and Ukraine, saying, “We have important relations with both Russia and Ukraine. We have never taken an approach that sets us apart from these countries. We would have never wished for such a war to take place.” President Erdoğan also suggested that NATO could adopt a “model” similar to the approach pursued by Türkiye, allowing for a more peaceful engagement with both Russia and Ukraine.[iii]
Starting his comments to the media in the Oval Office, President Erdoğan said, “I believe we will have the opportunity to discuss in detail the F-35 issue, the F-16 issue, as well as relations regarding Halkbank.”
He also mentioned the Halki seminary, the Patriarchate’s theological school in İstanbul. “We are ready to do whatever is incumbent upon us regarding the Heybeliada school,” he told Mr. Trump. “I will have the opportunity to discuss this matter with Patriarch Bartholomew upon my return.”
Mr. Trump responded, at length, to many questions asked by the media. No questions were directed at Mr. Erdoğan.
The summit lasted two hours and twenty-six minutes, with translation, demonstrating that everything was thoroughly prepared ahead of the visit by his immediate entourage. President Erdoğan and his officials left the White House extremely pleased. There were photos of the two sides, all smiling and delighted.
While the pro-government media is celebrating the visit, the two interviews, the comments by Tom Barrack, and the summit have drawn strong criticism from the opposition. For the former, last Thursday was a day of glory, for the latter a day of shame.
Looking at what was said and not said in Washington, it is too early to speculate on the concrete consequences and the cost to Ankara of the Washington summit. One should wait and see, though not for long. However, one can already say that Türkiye has lost enormous altitude in the eyes of the world. Everyone by now knows that Mr. Trump’s favors come at a price. They also know that he can change tack in no time.
Beyond Turkish-American relations and Turkish foreign and security policy, how the “understandings” reached in Washington would reflect on Türkiye’s domestic politics, what kind of a turn the AKP’s war against the opposition would take remain to be seen.
The play staged in the Oval Office, with Mr. Trump in the leading role, will only be remembered as an episode of profound disappointment in our nation’s century-long journey which began with the declaration of the Republic in 1923. Western powers were neither pleased with the Turkish War of Independence nor with Atatürk’s reforms that elevated Türkiye to a higher group of nations. They always wished Türkiye to become part of the Middle East, making it more manageable and acquiescent to external guidance and intervention. They never wanted Atatürk’s Türkiye to set an example for the region. They still navigate in the same direction and never miss an opportunity to advance their project.
[i] https://www.timesofisrael.com/revealed-us-21-point-plan-for-ending-gaza-war-creating-pathway-to-palestinian-state/
[ii] https://www.turkiyetoday.com/world/us-ambassador-says-trump-will-give-turkiye-legitimacy-it-seeks-3207531
[iii] https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/president-erdogan-gives-interview-to-fox-news