Turkey and the U.S.: The Longest Two Years of the Relations

Analysis (SETA) June 2015, No. 16
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research

Kilic Bugra Kanat

This paper explores the ups and downs of Turkish-American relations since 2003 and seeks to explain why these last two years have brought serious strain on the Ankara-Washington relationship.

Turkish-American relations are again under the spotlight as they have grown fractured over the last two years. Following the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 Turkish-American relations reached a low point, however relations between the two nations buoyed to their highest point with the election of Obama in 2008. This paper explores the ups and downs of Turkish-American relations since 2003 and seeks to explain why these last two years have brought serious strain on the Ankara- Washington relationship. U.S. inaction in Syria in particular, has left Turkey with the perception that Washington is insensitive to Ankara’s national interests and national security concerns. This inaction and failure to acknowledge the coup in Egypt have put in danger the potential for a shared vision between the two countries in regards to the most significant problems in the Middle East. In this paper Kanat stresses tha t the further deterioration of bilateral relations between Turkey and the U.S. can only be prevented through the formation of a multidimensional and multilayered relationship that takes into consideration the interests of both countries.

* Kilic Bugra Kanat is the Research Director at the SETA Foundation at Washington DC. He is also an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Penn State University, Erie.

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