The election of Joe Biden as the next US president will not affect the hostile foreign policy of the United States regarding Russia and Turkey, meaning Ankara has to pay more attention to the relations with Moscow and Tehran, former Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel has told Sputnik
ANTAKYA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2020) The election of Joe Biden as the next US president will not affect the hostile foreign policy of the United States regarding Russia and Turkey, meaning Ankara has to pay more attention to the relations with Moscow and Tehran, former Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel has told Sputnik.
The US held its presidential election on November 3. Later in the week, Democratic candidate Biden declared himself the winner after having been named so by the country's major media outlets. Incumbent President Donald Trump disputed Biden's claim, saying the election is not over and that he intended to bring the matter before a court.
"I do not expect changes in the US policy on Turkey, [and] neither on Syria, nor the Eastern Mediterranean, nor the Black Sea region. The US will continue the regional policy aimed against Turkey and Russia. With that in mind, Turkey has to give more importance to the relations with Russia and Iran, putting regional policy at the center of the foreign policy priorities," Gurel said.
He added that relations between countries cannot be built solely on personal interaction and that organizations and not persons will play a significant role in Washington's foreign policy, including in the issue of the Middle East.
"Meaning, Biden will not take back the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the US but he is likely to take a step back regarding the recognition of the annexation of the Golan Heights [by Israel] and the bizarre peace plan for the west bank of the Jordan River, which is under Israel's total control. This policy will put Israel in a complicated situation," the former minister mentioned.
He also speculated that Washington could return to the nuclear deal with Iran, which would make it closer to the European states, but otherwise there would be no drastic changes in relation to Iran or Israel.
During his time in office, Trump initiated several controversial initiatives such as pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, as well as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. Among his Middle Eastern initiatives were recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and a peace plan for Palestine, dubbed as the deal of the century. As the US administration is about to take power, politicians and experts across the world are wondering which elements of Trump's foreign policy will be sustained by Biden's White House.
