December 6, 2023 | Foreign Policy
It’s Time to Reconsider Turkey’s NATO Membership
In nearly every theater of vital security interests, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems devoted to undermining the trans-Atlantic alliance.
December 6, 2023 | Foreign Policy
It’s Time to Reconsider Turkey’s NATO Membership
In nearly every theater of vital security interests, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems devoted to undermining the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Excerpt
Joining NATO was the best foreign-policy pursuit that Turkey ever initiated in its existence as a republic. During the Cold War, its membership in the alliance kept Turkey from being overrun by the Soviet Union and helped provide space for its economic development as a Western ally.
Why, then, is the alliance constantly having to grapple with an uncooperative and at times even pugilistic Turkish leader in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? It seems that, in every instance, Erdogan is devoted to undermining the trans-Atlantic alliance. Is it time for NATO to reconsider Turkey’s membership?
Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy. He is also an Associate Professor of National Security Studies at Marine Corps University (MCU).