Hudson Experts Urge Prudence Amid Escalating U.S.-Turkey Tensions 

Tensions between the U.S. and Turkey are the highest in years. As Hudson experts detail, the rifts run far deeper than recent actions, including Turkey importing the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.

Mike Doran and Peter Rough consider what led to the deterioration of relations and the critical role Germany is playing in keeping the relationship together, writing: 

More than any other partner of the United States, Germany has a key role to play in helping Trump to get the balance right. This is true for two reasons: of all the countries of Western Europe, Germany is the most familiar with, and exposed to, all things Turkish. If the Turkish-American alliance is a one-lane freeway of security issues handled by the Pentagon, the Turkish-German relationship is a multi-lane highway of crisscrossing issues affecting all segments of society.

Germany has not entertained illusions about Turkey as a beacon of democracy to the same extent as the United States, thanks to the breadth and depth of its ties to the country, which date back decades. Those ties have brought Turkey, in all of its complexity, closer to the German than to the American people. In Berlin, the future of Turkey is not merely debated in erudite journals but by the man in the street.

In his Global View column for the Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead emphasizes the importance of U.S.-Turkey relations for the NATO alliance and how recent Turkish foreign policy actions threaten the future of the alliance, writing: 

The potential defection of a major ally like Turkey poses a significant challenge to NATO, not least because the alliance has no legal means to expel members that default on their obligations. While Mr. Erdogan's purchase of the Russian system requires a serious response, and the delivery of F-35s must be put on hold, Washington should move cautiously.

Turkey and the West do best when they work together. The Ottoman alliance with the Central Powers ended with dismemberment of the empire in World War I. But the rift was also costly for Winston Churchill; the Allied defeat at Gallipoli damaged his reputation and haunted him for years. The Istanbul election demonstrates that opposition to Mr. Erdogan's increasingly erratic leadership is deepening. A century after the Great War, Washington should remember that Turkey is bigger than one man and focus on the long term.

In an opinion editorial for the New York Post, Blaise Misztal argues that repairing U.S.-Turkey relations should be a top priority for U.S. strategists, writing:

This drift away from the West is the biggest challenge facing the US-Turkish relationship. Never since the end of the Cold War has Washington had greater need of a strong partnership with Turkey. Its strategic location, military strength, (still extant) republican political institutions and historical connections to contested regions make it an invaluable asset amid threats from China, Russia and Iran.

Erdogan might have thrown in his lot with these American competitors, but the orientation of Turkey is still undetermined. Countering his propaganda and rebuilding the trust of Turkish society should be at the heart of US strategy.

And Misztal discusses what's next for US-Turkey relations after Erdogan accepted the Russian S-400 missile defense system in a radio interview on the John Batchelor Show.