Dmitry Bridzhe, political scientist and Middle East expert, commented to Alpha News on the United States’ lifting of sanctions on Turkey. According to the expert, it is not merely a technical decision in the realm of defense cooperation, but a political signal from Donald Trump, President of the United States of America.
“Washington is being forced to acknowledge that Turkey has ceased to be a junior NATO ally and has become an independent center of power, one without which it is impossible to effectively manage several key areas at once: the Middle East, the Black Sea region, the Caucasus, Syria, energy, and the future architecture of European security. The main mistake is to see this as a concession to Erdogan or as an ordinary deal over the F-35. In reality, this is a far more global transformation. The US is effectively acknowledging that its previous policy of pressuring Ankara did not work. Sanctions did not force Turkey to abandon its independent foreign policy, did not sever its contacts with Russia, did not fully return it to Washington’s managed orbit, and did not weaken Turkey’s regional ambitions. On the contrary, in recent years Turkey has learned to use the contradictions among the US, Russia, Europe, Iran, the Arab world, and Israel to serve both its domestic and foreign policy interests,” Bridzhe said.
In the political scientist’s view, this is a major political victory for Erdogan, who will now be able to present the lifting of sanctions as proof that Turkey did not abandon its sovereign course and forced the US to reckon with it.
“Symbolically, this is a very important moment. When the US imposed sanctions on Turkey over the Russian S-400 systems, it looked like the punishment of an ally for strategic disobedience. Turkey acquired the air defense system despite pressure from Washington, was excluded from the F-35 program, and faced restrictions in the defense sphere.
Now the situation has changed. Washington itself is seeking a format for bringing Turkey back into closer defense cooperation. This speaks not to Ankara’s weakness, but to the growth of its bargaining power.
For Erdogan, this is a major political victory. He will be able to present the lifting of sanctions as proof that Turkey withstood the pressure, did not abandon its sovereign course, and forced the US to reckon with it. Domestically, this reinforces Erdogan’s image as a leader who did not bow to the West but achieved a revision of the American position. For Turkish political culture, this is of fundamental importance. It’s not simply a matter of winning concessions, but of demonstrating that Turkey speaks with the US not as a supplicant, but as an independent player in the region,” Bridzhe noted.
According to the expert, the US is lifting sanctions not because all points of contention have disappeared, but because the cost of conflict with the Republic of Turkey has become higher than the cost of compromise.
“For Washington, the motivation is also fairly obvious. The US needs Turkey for several reasons at once. First, Turkey remains a key country on NATO’s southeastern flank. Second, it controls a unique geographic space between Europe, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Third, it is impossible to work effectively on Syria, Ukraine, Iran, or energy routes without Ankara. Fourth, Turkey has its own defense industry, combat experience, drones, navy, and influence in the Turkic world. In other words, the US is lifting sanctions not because all contradictions have vanished. It is doing so because the cost of conflict with the Republic of Turkey has become higher than the cost of compromise.
However, this does not mean trust has been fully restored. The S-400 problem hasn’t gone anywhere. Washington still harbors concerns that the Russian air defense system is incompatible with NATO’s architecture and could pose risks to the security of the F-35 program.
So the lifting of sanctions is not the end of the conflict, but the beginning of a new stage of bargaining.Turkey will push for access to the F-35 program, aviation modernization, expanded defense cooperation, and recognition of its status. The US, for its part, will try to get more discipline from Ankara within NATO, greater predictability in its relations with Russia, and more manageable behavior on the international stage,” Bridzhe concluded.
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