Having lost much leverage in its fraught ties with the United States, Turkey seems to be pinning hope on its newfound influence as a drone maker to bolster its strategic value in Washington’s eyes and tout the prospect of creating a “drone crescent” to contain Russia.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with his US counterpart Joe Biden at the NATO summit June 14 will mark a critical moment in Ankara’s bid to mend fences and achieve some form of transactional rapport with Washington that would ease external and domestic pressures on Erdogan.
