But the administration also may want to avoid providing fuel for Erdoğan’s campaign. The Turkish leader is deft at using anti-Americanism to get votes; he accused the opposition of working with Washington. He also blasted U.S. Ambassador Jeff Flake for meeting with Kiliçdaroğlu.
Still, Charles Kupchan, a former senior National Security Council official, said the relationship between Washington and Ankara has somewhat improved.
After dragging his feet, the Turkish leader acquiesced on allowing Finland to join NATO and Swedish political figures are hopeful he will do the same for their country once he’s past the pressures of the election.
The United States, meanwhile, recently gave a green light to selling software to Turkey to help it upgrade its F-16 fighter jets.
“I think the Biden administration will be pragmatic and work with Erdoğan to the degree possible, knowing that this is the Turkish government that they have,” Kupchan said.
But Turkey remains at odds with the United States on a number of fronts, including how to approach the lingering challenges in Syria, not to mention Russia.
Turkey and Russia have in some ways deepened their economic ties despite heavy Western sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Still, Erdoğan also is an important interlocutor between the West and Russia, including on an initiative designed to allow for shipments of grain.
Soner Cagaptay, a historian who has authored multiple books on Turkey, said that with all of these factors in play, U.S. officials had to tread carefully through the first round, and that they’ll likely keep that up throughout the runoff.
“Washington’s policy was ‘do no harm,’ with the hope that perhaps Kiliçdaroğlu would win, but probably not,” Cagaptay said.