The obligatory references to the US and Turkey as NATO "allies" and "partners" increasingly fall flat, as bilateral relations may be approaching the breaking point over differences on Russia and Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met on Sept. 29 with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, said that Turkey is not only going ahead with the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, which has led to US sanctions, but is considering deeper defense cooperation with Russia, including development of aircraft engines, ship building and warplanes, as we report here.
