ROME/ISTANBUL -- In a meeting that was scheduled to run 20 minutes but lasted over an hour, U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sat down on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome on Sunday to hash out the differences between the two NATO allies.
"President Biden reaffirmed our defense partnership and Turkey's importance as a NATO ally, but noted U.S. concerns over Turkey's possession of the Russian S-400 missile system," the White House said in a statement after the meeting. "He also emphasized the importance of strong democratic institutions, respect for human rights, and the rule of law for peace and prosperity."
The summit follows a tumultuous week in Ankara, after Erdogan threatened to remove 10 Western ambassadors from the country including the U.S. envoy and representatives of six more NATO allies. The 10 had issued a statement calling for the release of Turkish philanthropist and civil society leader Osman Kavala, which Erdogan slammed as interference into internal affairs.
But while Washington's list of concerns about Turkey is long and wide-ranging, perhaps the most troubling is Erdogan's purchase of the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from NATO adversary Russia. Erdogan has said he is open to buying a second batch of the S-400s, despite the backlash that the initial 2017 deal has caused.
The U.S. kicked Turkey out of the F-35 development program as punishment, and relations have soured. Erdogan has called for the Americans to sell the latest version of the F-16 fighter instead of the F-35, which many members of the U.S. Congress have strongly opposed.
A senior U.S. administration official told reporters that the F-16 issue was discussed in the meeting.
"The president took on board his ... desire to have them but made very clear that there is a process that we have to go through in the U.S. and committed to continuing to ... work through that process," the official said.
After the meeting, Erdogan signaled to reporters in Rome that he was optimistic about the F-16 deal.
"Our defense ministers are talking. While I saw Mr. Biden's positive approach on this matter, another aspect of the issue is the House of Representatives and Senate," Erdogan said, adding he had asked Biden for support in winning the backing of U.S. lawmakers.
The Turkish side issued a statement saying that the meeting was held in a "positive atmosphere," and that bilateral relations and regional issues were addressed.
The two leaders expressed "a common will" for the further strengthening and advancing of Turkey-U.S. relations, and "to this end, agreed on forming a joint mechanism," Turkey's Communications Directorate said.
Biden and Erdogan talked about increasing bilateral trade volume and underscored the strategic partnership and NATO alliance, the statement said.
Turkey has NATO's second-largest military after the U.S. and the third-largest population following the U.S. and Germany. Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the country is subject to NATO's collective defense -- where any attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies.
But Turkey's recent actions, including the jailing of opposition figures and journalists, as well as Erdogan's continued approaches to Russian President Vladimir Putin, have sowed serious doubts whether the country still shares the same values.
Yet Turkey's strategic location bridging Europe and Asia, along with its ties to the wider Muslim world, the Middle East and the Turkic countries in Central Asia, makes it imperative for the Biden White House to keep Ankara from inching too close to Moscow. For Russia, Erdogan's Turkey offers Putin the perfect wedge to disrupt NATO unity.
The White House said in the statement that Biden "expressed appreciation for Turkey's nearly two decades of contributions to the NATO mission in Afghanistan."
The leaders also discussed "the political process in Syria, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghans in need, elections in Libya, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, and diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus," the White House said.