Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election requires a new U.S. strategy towards Turkey. Because it’s sad to say, but Erdogan has little interest in remaining friends.
Where Turkey was previously a committed NATO ally, Erdogan is re-orientating his nation toward Russia’s Middle Eastern policy. Where Turkey was once a reliable Eurasian center for free trade, the rule of law and secular democracy, Erdogan has built an Islamist authoritarian state driven by corrupt patronage. As I say, these concerns require an associated shift in U.S. policy.
For a start, the U.S. needs to regard Turkey for what it now is: an unreliable ally. At present Turkey is extracting the benefits of its alliance with America without any responsibility. Just consider the Trump administration’s decision to allow Lockheed Martin to sell its new F-35 strike fighters to Turkey. That would be fine if Turkey was a reliable NATO partner, but Erdogan is also buying Russia’s most advanced air defense system alongside the F-35.
That’s a big problem. By selling the next generation U.S.-allied air superiority and ground attack fighter to Turkey, President Trump has given the Russians access to an intelligence goldmine. That’s because Putin will be able to use his relationship with Erdogan to get his hands on the F-35 and learn how to target, track and kill the platform in any future conflict with NATO.
There’s a simple solution here: Trump should immediately revoke Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Turkish export license.
……..
- Discussion
-
In light of his "election" "victory", USG & NATO need to seriously reassess whose side Erdogan's Turkey is really on, as @TomRtweets explains. Co-signed.https://t.co/oVAkg831mX
— John Schindler (@20committee) June 25, 2018
Turkey was once secular. Since the “conservatives” took over, it is becoming Iran. A shame. Beautiful country. I was there as part of a cruise in the late 1990s. Now you couldn’t pay me to go there.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.