The relationship between the United States and Turkey has never been an easy one. When members of the Youth Association of Turkey, a far-left anti-American student group, roughed up three US Navy sailors in civilian clothes on Nov. 12 in Istanbul near where their warship was docked, it made clear the delicate nature of the relationship.
While the Turkish authorities stayed silent about the incident, and the United States' condemnation of the incident was a measured one. After all, this was not an incident between the two states. “These attackers bring great discredit upon the Turks and the Turkish reputation for hospitality, which is well known,” Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Nov. 12. “We enjoy a strong relationship with our NATO ally in Turkey” and “we don’t see this as something that will disrupt that strong relationship.”
