“It is not realistic to expect changes from the upcoming Trump-Erdogan meeting”, says Turkologist Mushegh Khudaverdyan. “All the same, the United States has a clear policy in the Middle East and will continue to arm the Syrian Kurds, as the latters are a tool not only for the US but also in the hands of other great powers to reach their goals,” said Mushegh Khudaverdyan to Aravot.am.
Recently, Trump made a decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish self-defense groups, which caused anger in Turkey. In the Middle East, the interest of the US and Turkey collided not only because of Kurds which makes Turkey implement a more independent policy in the West based on their own interests; this is causing an anger among the US political circles,” said our interlocutor.
According to Khudaverdyan’s words, we should not expect that the other important issue for Turkey, regarding the religious preacher Fethullah Gulen extradition, Erdogan will meet with success Trump.
As for the Turkish president’s statement that he was the primary target of Islamic State and Obama was owned the idea to arm the IS by Turkey, the Turkologist said: “Although the US President has changed, the foreign policy has not changed.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
