Washington-based think tank calls on US to try new policy with ‘more isolated’ Turkey.

Washington-based think tank calls on US to try new policy with ‘more isolated’ Turkey. (FoT).

A new report by a Washington-based think tank has urged the United States to try a new policy with its key NATO ally Turkey, warning that Ankara is more isolated and is sliding into a more authoritarian style of rule under the incumbent president.

The report, authored by Max Hoffman and Michael Herz and published by the Center for American Progress on Thursday, claims US investment in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has not worked, and that the US should try a new approach, for what it referred to as “compelling reasons.”


US President Obama stated in 2009 that the US had a “large political investment in Turkey.” Through this investment, the report explained, Obama sought to strengthen the three pillars of the US-Turkey partnership: Turkey’s status as a “strong, vibrant, secular democracy,” Turkey’s important role in NATO and its membership bid with the European Union, and Turkey’s potential as a role model for the Middle East. The report claimed that American investment has not been “reciprocated,” adding that Erdoğan and the ruling party have handled domestic and regional developments in a way that has raised doubts about each of these pillars.

“Few observers would count Turkey as a vibrant democracy. Turkey’s bid for EU membership has stalled, and its role as a reliable NATO ally has been questioned. Moreover, the country’s appeal as a model for the region has eroded significantly, and its ability to influence regional dynamics has decreased as Syria and Iraq have spun out of control,” the report noted.

The end result, the authors wrote, is that Turkey has distanced itself from the West and from Western values.

The report, titled “One Step Forward, Three Steps Back,” said that the Turkish government seems determined to crack down on dissent, strike deals with Russia and China that undermine NATO positions and that it routinely bargains with the US over “what should be basic transactions between allies” in the fight against ISIL.

It is time, the report stressed, for the US to try a new policy and to bring its considerable leverage to bear. It highlighted Turkey’s current “isolation” due in part to the AK Party’s authoritarian and anti-Western shift, and said Turkey is less able today to shape regional policy than at any time since the end of the Cold War.


Usually Ankara would rather dismiss than accept offers of cooperation from the US and the EU, the report said, adding that the two nations’ divergence has become “impossible to ignore.” The authors said close cooperation with the US has helped bolster Erdoğan in his roles as prime minister and president, but that the US has not gotten much in return.

The report noted that Erdoğan, who has jettisoned his earlier efforts at reform and broader political inclusion to focus on divisive identity politics and a 50-percent-plus-one approach to consolidate control, keeps bringing up the idea that Turkey is once again threatened by enemies from outside and within. “But beyond their dubious historical legitimacy, such ideological delusions are causing significant damage to Turkey’s foreign policy interests and its relations with the United States,” the report warned. Hmmm.....Finally someone woke up in the US, but it won't matter with Obama  protecting Erdo. Read the full story here.