Turkey is a NATO ally, but not a reliable one. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has developed close relations with authoritarian powers like Russia and China. Like his neo-imperialist friends, Erdogan longs for the resurrection of the Ottoman Empire which ruled much of the Middle East for centuries. But is that what the Turkish people want? And despite its regular illicit activity ranging from smuggling, sanctions evasion, and being a terrorist safe haven to unprecedented efforts to normalize Hamas on the global stage, Turkey maintains cozy military-to-military relations with the U.S. — and a NATO membership.
To discuss what Turkey under Erdogan has become, where it may be going, and what Turkey’s role in the world ought to be, host Cliff May is joined by Sinan Ciddi, a non-resident senior fellow at FDD, Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s Senior Vice President for Research, and Tyler Stapleton, director of congressional relations at FDD Action.