Trump – Erdogan summit: A clean break, but not necessarily a break-through

TURKEY - In Brief 07 Jul 2026 by Atilla Yesilada
The moment Trump’s Air Force 1 landed in Ankara, where he was personally welcomed by Erdogan, Trump began heaping praise on the latter, which continued before and after the summit press comments. It is certain that the troubled Turko-American relationship made a clean break with its past, with regional cooperation replacing mistrust and animosity. Yet, regarding the biggest obstacle to improved bi-lateral relations, namely abolishing the infamous CAATSA Sanctions Bill, the situation is less clear. Give credit where credit is due, the Trump administration is doing more than its share of the heavy-lifting in this regard, going against substantial resistance in Congress and the advice of Netanyahu, in considering lifting the CAATSA sanctions. Yet, unlike the unilateral decision to sell fighter jet engines to Turkey, lifting CAATSA requires a final solution to Turkey’s possession of Russian made S-400s, where the ball is now in Turkey’s court. Let’s try to understand why I speculate that it will take a new act by Congress to fully lift CAATSA sanctions. Since the legal process is somewhat convoluted and vague, I defer to other sources: “Eighteen Democratic lawmakers, without any Republican support, led by Rep. Dina Titus and joined by several prominent members of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, have urged House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to be prepared to use every legislative tool available to prevent the Trump administration from moving forward with Turkey’s reinstatement in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. They further note that the Trump administration itself imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey’s Presidency of Defe...

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