In an interview with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack said he anticipates that President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will resolve long-standing defense-related sanctions by the end of the year. The envoy noted that the two leaders could issue directives to settle the dispute over U.S. sanctions imposed in 2020 in response to Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
Highlighting the strategic importance of F-16s and F-35s for NATO ally Turkey, Ambassador Barrack noted that a significant share of F-35 components are manufactured in Turkey. He stressed that Turkey has already paid for the F-16s and their modernization, and recounted anecdotes from the period when CAATSA sanctions were first imposed.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act is a United States federal law that initially imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
Barrack underscored the need to deepen strategic cooperation, particularly in the defense sector.
He acknowledged that the F-35 dispute has been a persistent point of contention, stating that both sides are now aiming to “put that aside” and expressed a mutual desire to “start fresh.”
He added: “Congress is willing to take a fresh look at it. President Erdogan and Foreign Minister Fidan are doing the same and saying, ‘Let’s start fresh’ … I think what you’ll see is President Trump, President Erdogan, will tell Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Fidan, ‘End it, figure out the way and end it’, and Congress will support an intelligent conclusion. So, my belief is that by year-end, we have the possibility of having a solution.”
Speaking on the broader context of the F-35, F-16, and S-400 issues, Barrack said: “So I think what you’re going to see in the next couple of months is a renewal of a meeting between our two presidents and our two secretaries of state, a bilateral agenda—all these things that have been discussed for five years. F-35s, F-16s, S-400s, sanctions, tariffs are secondary to what is our mission.”
“For the first time, as long as I can remember, you have an American commitment and a Turkey commitment to say: instead of just being defense partners, let’s be offense partners. How do we help Turkish people, and how do we create more understanding with the American population?” he concluded.
ERDOGAN’S ANTISEMITISM AND HATE TOWARD ISRAEL
In May 2021, the Biden administration issued a sharp rebuke of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over remarks it described as antisemitic, made amid his condemnation of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
“The United States strongly condemns President Erdogan’s recent anti-Semitic comments regarding the Jewish people and finds them reprehensible,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price in an official statement.
“We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence,” he added.
Erdogan, whose political background is rooted in Islamism, has long positioned himself as a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause throughout his 18 years in power—even as Turkey maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, making it one of the few Muslim-majority countries to do so.
He has regularly accused Israel of “terrorism” against Palestinians and, in a particularly inflammatory comment, stated: “It is in their nature.”
“They are murderers, to the point that they kill children who are five or six years old. They only are satisfied by sucking their blood,” Erdogan said.
He also directed criticism at U.S. President Joe Biden for backing Israel diplomatically, accusing him of having “bloody hands.”
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, President Erdogan’s anti-Israel and often overtly anti-Jewish rhetoric has grown increasingly extreme. His public statements have gone beyond criticism of Israeli policy, veering into full-throated defense of Hamas and inflammatory accusations against the Jewish state. Erdogan has repeatedly referred to Israel as a “terrorist state,” accused it of committing genocide, and portrayed Hamas terrorists as legitimate “resistance fighters.” His remarks—laden with historical blood libels and conspiratorial undertones—have drawn sharp condemnation from Western leaders. Rather than moderating his tone amid war, Erdogan has doubled down, framing the conflict as a civilizational struggle against Zionism.
On November 15, 2023—one month after the October 7 Hamas attacks—Erdogan escalated his rhetoric against Israel, labeling it a “terrorist state” and defending Hamas militants as “resistance fighters.” The remarks were delivered in a speech before the Turkish Parliament, just two days ahead of Erdogan’s scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, marking his first trip to Europe since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
According to Reuters, Erdogan described Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza as “the most treacherous attacks in human history” and accused Western nations of enabling Israel’s actions.
“With the savagery of bombing the civilians it forced out of their homes while they are relocating, it is literally employing state terrorism. I am now saying, with my heart at ease, that Israel is a terror state,” Erdogan declared.
He further stated, “We will never shy away from voicing the truth that Hamas members protecting their lands, honor, and lives in the face of occupation policies are resistance fighters, just because some people are uncomfortable with it.”
WELCOME BACK TURKISH AGENT FLYNN
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn joined Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign as a national security advisor in February of that year. In March 2017, Flynn filed paperwork retroactively registering as a foreign agent, disclosing that he had performed paid lobbying work in 2016 that may have benefited the Turkish government. He was officially sworn in as National Security Advisor on January 22, 2017. However, just over three weeks later, on February 13, he resigned after revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn’s tenure remains the shortest in the history of the position.
At the time, President Erdogan was carrying out a sweeping political crackdown in the wake of a failed military coup attempt in July 2016. As part of that effort, he sought the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania whom he accused of orchestrating the coup. The Obama administration declined Turkey’s request to extradite Gulen, citing insufficient legal evidence.
Meanwhile, Flynn—then a key advisor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign—was hired to investigate Gulen. According to The New York Times, Flynn’s firm was contracted “to perform investigative research” on Gulen and “develop a short film piece on the results of its investigation.” Although the video was never produced, Flynn’s firm received $530,000 before the contract ended in November 2016.
On Election Day, Flynn published an op-ed in The Hill, in which he referred to Gulen as “a shady Islamic mullah” and “radical Islamist.” He wrote: “To professionals in the intelligence community, the stamp of terror is all over Mullah Gulen’s statements. Gulen’s vast global network has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network. From Turkey’s point of view, Washington is harboring Turkey’s Osama bin Laden.”
Lawyers for Fethullah Gulen, the exiled Turkish cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt, expressed serious concern for his safety, warning that the Turkish government might attempt to assassinate him.
“We’re very concerned about his safety,” said Reid Weingarten, one of Gulen’s attorneys, during a press conference on Friday, according to Politico.
We’ll never know the extent of Michael Flynn’s involvement in this plot, first, because Gulen died on October 20, 2024, at age 83, and second, because President Trump, who fired Flynn in 2017, on Sunday posted this message on Truth Social:
“It was my Great Honor to pardon Michael Flynn, a FEARLESS Patriot and Decorated General, who was savagely attacked by the Biden/Obama Deep State, which has now been completely exposed for the FRAUD it is. These Radical Left Lunatics unleashed a relentless storm of lies, FAKE charges, and dirty FBI ‘tricks’ during the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax to try and crush Mike’s Spirit — But this Great American Hero was INNOCENT. Now Mike has written a fantastic new Book, ‘PARDON OF INNOCENCE: An Inspiring Story of Faith and Freedom,’ which will greatly encourage Citizens across our Nation to NEVER GIVE UP. Get your copy today!”
Was Flynn just cleansed so he could go to work patching the differences between Trump and Erdogan and allow the two presidents to conclude the multi-billion-dollar F-35 and F-16 deals? Should Israel be concerned that Trump is cozying up to the most vicious antisemite in the region? Stay tuned.
