Lobbying 2014: Turkey seeks 'zero problems' with Obama

Turkey is lobbying heavily to try to rekindle a once-promising relationship with the administration of President Barack Obama that has markedly deteriorated over the past year.

Back in 2009, Obama made Ankara his first stop in the Muslim world and held up Turkey as a model for bridging Islam and the West. Relations have since soured significantly, with the two countries at odds on a host of foreign policy issues ranging from Syria to Egypt to Israel even as Washington grows increasingly critical of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on dissent.

“In the past, I was calling him directly,” Erdogan said of the US president in a July 21 interview with Turkey’s ATV. “Because I can't get the expected results on Syria, our foreign ministers are now talking to each other." 

Dwindling patience on the US side, meanwhile, was on full display during the July 15 nomination hearing for Obama’s pick for ambassador to Ankara.