Turkey–US Relations: Where Now?

Turkey’s relations with the US have suffered a blow, but the US needs to understand that in a changing world, regional stability cannot be achieved without Turkish cooperation.

One cannot say that Turkey–US relations have been a smooth ride these past seven years. Although this has been an exceptional time, bilateral relations between the two countries have hit many a tough curve since US President Lyndon Johnson’s letter over Cyprus in 1964, which warned the then-Turkish government against ‘military interference’ on the island.

However, never before has the relationship been as strained as it is now in the context of US military aid to the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist organisation, which constitutes a primary national security threat for Turkey. Never before has Turkey found itself in such a pivotal role as the US attempts to draw a global ring of ‘like-minded’ states and allies closer to itself to distance Russia, with great power rivalry making a comeback. Never before was Turkey able to shape regional realties on the ground to this extent, as the first realignment of great power relations since the end of the Second World War is unfolding. Turkey’s role in Libya, Syria, Iraq and more recently in support of Azerbaijan in its fight against Armenian occupying forces in Nagorno-Karabakh has to be seen within this wider picture of global change.

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