Türkiye’s Erdogan signs nuclear deal with Trump at White House

September 25th marked a great day for Turkish-American relations, as Türkiye’s president, Recep Erdogan, and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation at the White House, according to The Middle East Eye via AFP.

After the meeting, the Turkish Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, announced the news on X, saying that he looks forward to both countries further developing their “deep-rooted and multidimensional partnership … in the field of nuclear energy”. Bayraktar is adamant that both nations will greatly benefit within the framework of this deal.

This is the first time Erdogan has been at the White House since 2019, as the previous Democratic government wasn’t appreciative of his poor human rights record and his authoritarian tendencies.

Also, the Turkish government has repeatedly condemned the USA’s strong support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has put a strain on their relationship.

Although the Israel-Gaza conflict was briefly mentioned in the meeting, Trump recognised the importance of the Turkic country as a key strategic partner in the region, which makes sense as both nations are part of NATO and have worked separately to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

After their encounter in the Oval Office, the US State Department said that it had assisted in the reopening of the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline to allow the import of Kurdish oil into Türkiye. The US State Department later added that they hoped this would enhance the region’s energy security, which resonates with recent news as Iraq turned to Türkiye for help amid national electricity cuts.

The pipeline had been closed since March of 2023, yet in July, the Iraqi government signed a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government, an autonomous region within the country, to resolve pay and export disputes that would finally allow oil exports to resume.

This is a true revival for Turkish-American relations, as both leaders repeatedly mentioned their deep friendship and mutual respect. The Turkish president added that both leaders have “managed to elevate the level of our relationship to a new horizon”.

Trump lauded Erdogan for “his surrogates” in Syria as he alluded to the strong relationship between Turkey and the new Syrian government following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad. Later adding that he expected regional actors such as Türkiye and the Gulf countries to finance Syria’s recovery.

The Middle East Eye via AFP, Maghrebi.org