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Is Turkey’s 'strategic partnership' with America coming to an end?

An expert maintains that if solutions to the structural factors poisoning ties cannot be found, Turkish-American relations will continue to deteriorate.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump wait for a meeting at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly September 21, 2017 in New York City. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski        (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump wait for a meeting at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 21, 2017. — BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ratcheted up the rhetoric against the United States, after the delegation he dispatched to Washington last week failed to secure a diplomatic solution to the crisis over American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Erdogan is threatening now to end Turkey’s alliance with the United States and to develop strategic ties with Russia and China.

“Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives,” Erdogan wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times on Aug. 10.

“Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies,” he added.

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