16.12.2019 Author: Vladimir Odintsov
Column: Politics
Region: Middle East
Country: Turkey
The well-established relations between Washington and one of
its most important NATO allies – Turkey, has recently come under
strain due to a growing list of differences between
the two and their often conflicting interests. Washington has responded to
this development by sending the Turkish lira into a free fall that has recently
hit a record low against the dollar. Although Turkish President
Erdogan upon establishing his own party in 2002, but
prior to his first electoral victories, could often be seen by the
fireplace in the Oval Office, these days the growing mutual
distrust between Ankara and Washington is clearly visible.
There are many reasons for this. Among the major ones is
Washington’s stubborn refusal to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen
currently residing in America, accused in Turkey of the attempted
coup of July 2016.
Added to this, is the ongoing support the United States provides
to different Kurdish communities much to Erdogan’s disappointment, as Ankara has
always been particular sensitive to the problem of Kurdish
separatism. Indeed, Turkey’s approach to the Syrian conflict wasn’t just
dictated by its ambition of combating ISIS, but by its
reluctance to allow Syrian Kurds to establish an enclave along its
border. Given the fact that Turkey serves as home to the largest
Kurdish group of 14 million people, the long-term military and
political support of the Kurds provided by the United States poses a
serious threat to the territorial integrity and security of Turkey.
However, Washington’s approach to the Syrian conflict has
effectively deprived Turkey of its hope that once ISIS
is finally defeated, Washington will break its ties with the Syrian
Kurds. This resulted in Ankara launching Operation Olive Branch in
the northwestern part of Syria in late January, so it could clear
the border region from the presence of PYD / YPG
supporters, as well as any remaining ISIS militants.
The quarrel between Washington and Ankara reached new heights due
to Ankara seeking ways to mend its relations with Russia through allowing the
construction of the Turkish Stream joint gas pipeline and its
determination to acquire Russia’s S-400 air defense systems,
thus becoming the first NATO member to purchase weapons that were not
produced in the US. As a result, Washington began voicing demands to
kill the weapon deal in exchange for allowing Turkey to acquire its Patriot air
defense systems, while kicking Turkey out of the F-35 program
and embarking on a sanctions rampage through exploiting the Law on
Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions (CASTA).
However, it’s clear to pretty much everyone at this point that
the driving force between the crisis in bilateral relations
between Turkey and the United States is the fact that Ankara has been
gradually increasing its influence across its home region in
recent years, as it pursues an independent foreign policy and
protects its national interests. This leads to Turkey seeking cooperation
with other regional and global powers, primarily with Russia. In this
context, the purchase of Russia’s S-400 and the operations
conducted by Turkey in Syria in order to ensure its territorial
integrity have undoubtedly become a point of concern for
the United States. The latter is dead-set to force Turkey into abandoning
these policies, through using a number of trump cards up its sleeve, including sanctions.
Given NATO’s failure to secure its stated goals (namely, the
fight against terrorism), this alliance is becoming an instrument of Washington’s foreign
policy, with Ankara’s membership status turning into a bargaining
chip. Should the two countries part their ways, this can seriously weaken
NATO to the point where other members begin questioning the validity of
the alliance, and this Washington cannot allow, which means that
it will continue putting more pressure on Ankara.
In his revelations he published in The New York Times, Erdogan
would point out that:
Over the years, Turkey rushed to America’s help whenever necessary…Yet
the United States has repeatedly and consistently failed to understand and
respect the Turkish people’s concerns. And in recent years, our partnership has
been tested by disagreements. Unfortunately, our efforts to reverse this
dangerous trend proved futile.
There’s no hiding the fact that the US Congress and the entire political
establishment has been bitterly disenchanted with the figure of the
sitting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, notes the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
American congressmen were not just enraged by Ankara’s decision to purchase the
Russian air defense systems, but also by Turkey’s military operation in
northern Syria. And finally, they reacted by double slapping Turkey by formally
recognizing the “Turkish massacre of Armenians” in 1915 as genocide. In
addition, the other day, after several unsuccessful attempts to get a majority
of votes, the US Senate Foreign Policy Committee has nevertheless adopted a law
that enacts sanctions against Turkey.
Ankara, as it was expected, has angrily reacted to such actions, with
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announcing that there could be a
review of the provision that allowed US forces to occupy two major air bases within
the Turkish territory. Incirlik airbase in the southern province of Adana has
been one of the primary hubs of US operations in the Middle East for years,
including operations conducted in Syria and Iraq. The other base – Kureggik is
located in the east of the country and is one of the key NATO bases in the
region.
In an attempt to talk some reason into the American establishment,
Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced:
At a time when evil continues to lurk around the world, unilateral
actions against Turkey by the United States, our ally of decades, will only
serve to undermine American interests and security. Before it is too late,
Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be
asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives.
Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us
to start looking for new friends and allies.
Vladimir Odintsov, expert politologist, exclusively
for the online magazine ‘New Eastern Outlook’.
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