Since US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence started publicly speaking about their disappointment with Turkey, the decadelong debate about who "lost" Turkey and ending the strategic partnership has reappeared in the spotlight of Turkish and international media.
On the Turkish side, the status of Turkish-American relations is at best quite complicated. The common theme Ankara openly advocates is that Turkey doesn't need the United States. A "global anti-Trump alliance” has become the new focus of televised political discussions. Ordinary Turks have been protesting the use of US dollars as well as smashing iPhones, calling for NATO bases to close and carrying out rather counterproductive methods to boycott the United States. On the other hand, construction of the US Embassy in the Cukurambar district of Ankara continues as planned, while military operations in Syria and other NATO bases are mostly on track.
