Summary of Turkey and the West

A Fraught Alliance

Turkey, under the leadership of its former Prime Minister and current President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is widely seen as an opportunity lost. For a time, Turkey drew closer to the United States and Europe, forming important economic ties and pursuing the sort of reforms that endeared the nation to proponents of the liberal world order. But as Erdoğan has tightened his hold on power, Turkey has reversed course, turning away from religious freedom and civil liberties and otherwise alienating the US and the EU. When, for example, Washington allied with Kurdish opposition groups in Syria – which Ankara dubs terrorist cells – Erdoğan accused the US of creating “a pool of blood” in the region. The dispute undermined efforts to broker peace in Syria and drove the two nations further apart. Meanwhile, Turkey and the EU have feuded over the Syrian refugee crisis and over Europe’s response to a 2016 coup attempt that failed to oust Erdoğan from office.

Modern-day Turkey rose from the remains of the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed during World War I. Relations between Turkey and the West have...