Tom O'Connor
As President Joe Biden looks to muster up international support for Ukraine against Russian battlefield advances and temper criticism of his support for Israel amid its ongoing war in Gaza, the U.S. leader faces an influential dissenting voice from ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In written responses shared exclusively with Newsweek as the Turkish leader arrived in Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO summit, Erdogan argued that Western powers were taking wrong and potentially dangerous approaches to the two conflicts, both of which he warned had the potential to spiral into far larger confrontations engulfing the Eastern European and Middle Eastern regions that his nation straddles.
On Ukraine, the spotlight issue of the annual NATO gathering, Erdogan reaffirmed his stance that "we will not be a party to this war" in spite of Biden's calls for greater NATO solidarity against Russia. With pledges of further military aid to Kyiv emanating from Western capitals in the lead-up to the summit, Erdogan was deeply critical of his allies' strategy.
"The solution is not more bloodshed and suffering, but rather a lasting peace achieved through dialogue," Erdogan told Newsweek. "The attitude of some of our Western allies towards Russia has only fueled the fire. This has resulted in more harm than good for Ukraine. In contrast, we have engaged in dialogue with both warring parties in an effort to bring them closer to peace."
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