U.S. policy suggestions while waiting for a new government in Ankara

The Foreign Policy Department of the US Think Tank Brookings Institute has published a new report on US-Turkey relations.

The report, signed by Nicholas Danforth and published in February 2021, is titled “Between Cooperation and Containment: New U.S. Policies for a new Turkey”. The report can be read here.

The reports main finding is as follows:

“Put simply, the Turkish government views the United States as a strategic threat rather than an ally, and a growing majority in Washington have come to view Turkey the same way”.

Analyzing the new Turkish foreign policy, stating disagreements with U.S., proposing policies to Washington, the Brookings Report concludes that a “reset” of Turkish-U.S relations is not possible under the current Government in Ankara.

The report expresses this conclusion the following way:

“But more significant cooperation will have to wait until Ankara and Washington once again share a broadly compatible worldview. Ultimately, it will be up to a democratically-elected Turkish government to decide that Turkey would benefiting from restoring ties with the West.”

The Brookings Institute thus waits for a “democratically-elected” government, casting doubts about the current government’s legitimacy. There is no doubt that a future Turkish government will receive the attribute of “democratically elected” by its stance towards the West.

UnitedWorld presents below a broad, readable summary of the Brookings Report. All expressions are taken from the report, except otherwise indicated, and sentences have been shortened to enable better readability.