Rebuilding the american relationship will not be easy

appears to have been important THE PAST WEEK in beginning to reconstruct Turkish-American relations that were on a steady decline during the past few years, possibly gaining speed with the coming of Mr. Biden to office. The decline is not the result of a single event, source, or institution, but rather the outcome of a combination of factors. The most prominent one relates to changes that began in global politics after the end of the Cold War. While the US wanted to continue dominating NATO and the western world, the disappearance of a rival pole rendered others less willing to be accommodating. America’s invasion of Iraq is a case in point. Many allies neither approved nor supported the invasion. The Turkish government’s willingness to go along with the US was stymied by the Turkish parliament. Thereafter, particularly in the eyes of the American military, Turkey stopped being a reliable partner.

Differences between the two countries grew more pronounced after shifts in Turkish foreign policy beginning in 2009 when the government changed its policy toward Israel, the lynchpin of American policy in the Middle East. Very shortly, the worsening of relations with Israel became reflected in problematic relations with the US. When its relations with Israel were good, various Jewish lobbies maintained a friendly disposition toward Turkey. This was critical in the US Congress where Greek and Armenian lobbies were effective but restrained by an even more powerful Jewish lobby. When it lost its Jewish friends in Congress, Turkey became a target of intense hostility that has shown little sign of abating since. The killing of ten Turkish citizens on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza only made things worse. Various American attempts to bring the two countries together failed. It is only recently that they have started making amends. Although it is expected that relations will continue to improve, it is too early to judge how much and when this will be reflected in improving Turkish-American relations.

Turkey’s foreign policy shift in the hope of becoming the leader of a Sunni Bloc in the region has added yet another issue of contention between the US and Turkey. Turkey’s involvement in Syria and its failure to dislodge Assad and replace his rule with the Muslim Brotherhood have failed totally. In the process, Turkey has turned to cooperating with more radical Islamist groups to achieve military success but to no avail. Turkey’s actions constituted the justification for Americans to turn to Syrian Kurds as allies in fighting radical Islamists. The Syrian PYD/YPG that Americans have chosen as partners, however, is affiliated with the PKK, which conducts terroristic activity in Turkey. Although the Americans try to assure the Turks that their cooperation with the PYD/YPG is temporary, Turks continue to suspect that the American intention has long been to create a Kurdish state in Syria that will inevitably have problematic relations with Turkey.

Turkey’s acquisition of Russian built S-400 SAM missiles when its attempts to acquire Patriots from the US failed has constituted yet another development that has led America not only to cancel Turkey’s participation in the F-35 project, but also place it under CAATSA, which bans arms sales to America’s adversaries. While Turkey has tried to meet these concerns by not integrating the S-400s with NATO systems and possibly even keeping them in their boxes, the Americans have insisted that they be sent out of the country. Understandably, to maintain its autonomy, credibility and prestige, Turkey has not been able to accommodate this request.

Other problems have also plagued the relationship such as the hospitality the US has offered to Fethullah Gülen and his entourage, a religious group that was involved in the 2016 attempt at a military takeover. Turkey suspects that the American government was not only aware of Gülen’s plans but likely supported them. Requests for his extradition have so far found no response. Cases against some Turkish state banks that are accused of violating the embargo against Iran are also still pending in American courts.

The sudden transformation of the international environment driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also redefined the framework within which Turkey interacts with the US, NATO allies and the EU. It is now believed that NATO continues to be an important instrument of Western defense and Turkey is an indispensable part of it. Therefore, relations with Turkey should be reconstructed on a more friendly and cooperative basis. This is a welcome development but whether it will be easy is another question. Mr. Biden is not favorably disposed toward Turkey. Turkey does not have a community of friends in Congress or even in the foreign policy and military bureaucracy. The Turkish public, on the other hand, identifies the US as the country’s no. 1 enemy. Conclusion: Rebuilding the relationship will not be easy. It will require patience and hard work. No result is guaranteed.