Tayyip Erdogan stayed away from the well-known, “arrogant” choices in his meetings with other leaders, when he had to greet US President Joe Biden as he entered the hall where the NATO Summit is taking place.
The handshake, as it is known, has been banned for the last year due to the pandemic – and so the touch of the fist between the two ended up looking like a φί handshake from Erdogan.
As it is known, Biden and Erdogan will have their first meeting after the inauguration of the new US President, after the end of the meeting – and after Erdogan will have met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Erdogan has announced that he will raise the issue of US recognition of the Armenian Genocide with President Biden, but in a press conference he gave on Sunday before leaving for Brussels, where the NATO summit is being held, took care to ” his country's significant involvement in NATO operations and to “advertise” Turkey's value as a NATO ally.
As is known, Joe Biden has announced a change in US policy towards Turkey – while since the last days of Trump's presidency, the US has imposed sanctions on Turkey for the purchase of Russian S-400s.
Another Erdogan for the Greek-Turkish at the Summit
The President of Turkey stayed away from his well-known rhetoric in his report in Greek-Turkish, speaking at an event of the German Marshall Fund, on the sidelines of the NATO Summit. In view of the meetings with Mitsotakis and – mainly – Joe Biden, he preferred to appear compromising and in favor of dialogue. He described Greece as a (NATO) “ally”, while stating that the resumption of dialogue between Greece and Turkey and the resolution of “bilateral issues”, as he said, will serve stability and prosperity in the region.
The relevant report is as follows:
“We respect international law, justice and equality, mutual rights and interests in our relations with our neighbors. “I believe that the resumption of dialogue between Turkey and its neighbor and ally, Greece, as well as the resolution of bilateral issues, will also serve stability and prosperity in the region.”
