The U.S.-Turkey Relationship Just Got More Complicated

A terrorist attack in Istanbul renews tensions between longtime allies.

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A memorial on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Monday. (Photo by Charlotte Lawson)

ISTANBUL—Less than a day after an explosion killed six people and injured dozens more in Turkey’s largest city, police apprehended a 23-year-old Syrian woman and identified her as the suspected attacker. Authorities said she confessed carrying out the bombing on behalf of Turkey’s longtime adversary, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkish authorities detained at least 50 others in connection to the bombing, according to local media, though details are sparse. But many Turkish officials quickly directed their ire at a third party: the United States. And the alleged terrorist’s attire, a sweater that said New York, in a photo published by authorities struck a nerve.

Ankara has long accused Washington of overlooking or supporting terrorism through its partnership with Kurdish groups in Syria. Turkey considers such elements one and the same as the PKK, which has carried out attacks on Turkish soil in the past but denies involvement in the latest.

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  1. Deleted Comment

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  2. Nikitas Hatzimihail

    I'm an avid reader of The Dispatch, and this was one of the saddest pieces published... in the intervening 8 days, the Turkish "special military operations" against the Kurds in Syria and in Iraq have provided evidence for most people about how likely it is that the horrible bombing was organised by groups near the regime... Many Turks had said so .... but we are only hearing from Mr Cagaptay. A pitty.

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  3. Scott Janetsky

    I cannot imagine why a country that has carried out genocide against every ethnic group it comes in contact with would experience terror attacks.

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  4. Scott Janetsky

    Turkey is a giant terror state that has carried out ethnic cleansing against Kurds, funds terrorism against Armenia, and is threatening to invade the Greek islands because Erdogan is a neo-Ottoman dictator. Erdogan is **at least** as bad as Putin.. Saying Turkey is our “NATO ally” is incredibly stupid. Everyone — the United States, Germany, needs to stop making concessions to Turkey.

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    Rajeev

    For Erdogan to lecture anyone, much the less the United States, on brutality and terrorism is laughable on its face. Yes the Kurds are ruthless at times…that made them an ideal ally in Syria/Iraq. And the US has no shortage of awful alliances far worse than the Kurds. But Turkey has been lately a NATO member in name only and Erdogan is far closer to being a Putin than a Scholz or Macron.

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    Dexember

    One question Charlotte: What is the link between YPG and PKK? It's stated as fact, but not defined in your article.

    I think we have to walk the tightrope of supporting Kurdish independence in Syria, which Turkey opposes as part of their anti-Kurdish discrimination, and supporting Turkey against the PKK.

    We have to do a better job of cleaving the Marxist PKK radicals away from the rest of the Kurdish polity. If money is being funneled through the YPG to PKK then we should threaten to cut funds and/or capture/eliminate those involved.

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      MattA

      Good question. But I think you summed up the actual relationship, according to Turkey, pretty well: “stated as fact, but not defined”.

      Erdogan really doesn’t concern himself with facts.

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    MatthewRobin

    I would be willing to trade support for Syrian Kurds for Turkish good behavior, like making peace with Greece and ending their Saber rattling.

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      Dexember

      I wouldn't.

      Trump tried exactly that with his sudden and reckless withdrawal, and Turkey's behavior did not change. Many Kurds died and Americans put in peril along the northern Syrian border, and what did we gain?

      Erdogan hates the west as an Islamist who wishes to create a theocratic, ethnically discriminatory state. His growing dictatorship is not a good bedfellow compared to the more secular, free Kurdish population. The PKK is a small Marxist fraction of the total population.

      A free and independent Kurdistan would be the greatest Muslim ally in the region, but NATO prevents such a move. So we support Kurdish rebellion in Iran, we support Kurdish minority rights in Turkey and Iraq, and we should support a free and independent Kurdistan in Syria. All easier said than done.

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        MatthewRobin

        I am confused about our alleged withdrawal because at no point did US troops in Syria decrease to 0 during that time period.

        I hope trump got something in return for the alleged withdrawal. If not the the problem would be the unilateral nature of it, not the withdrawal itself.

        I remain unconvinced that in order to prevent terrorist attacks against the US that we need permanent military deployments. Whack-a-mole sounds alot better

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          Dexember

          https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/us/politics/mark-esper-syria-kurds-turkey.html

          I'm referring to the incident outlined above. And the withdrawal itself was a problem. It was costing us very little in manpower and money to maintain a tripwire in Northern Syria against Turkey's aggression against the Kurds to the North and support the Kurds against ISIS and Russia/Iran backed Syrian forces.

          Then Trump abandoned that relatively cheap position in a hasty, reckless withdrawal. Very similar to Biden's hasty, reckless withdrawal in Afghanistan.

          I'm not arguing that because the execution of the withdrawals in both places was poor, it means that withdrawing is ipso facto bad. It's not.

          But I have to ask what you have against permanent military deployments? We've had one in South Korea and Germany for years with high reward and small cost. I suggest our position in Northern Syria was the same. And these positions are about more than just preventing terrorism, although some have that as a secondary effect. Whack-a-mole, as in targeted assassinations, is not all the effective or practical with no forward operating bases. Listen to the Generation Jihad podcast from Long War Journal for more real specifics.

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        Cogitatio

        I concur. Erdogan is not a true ally. He works to undermine relations within NATO.

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          MatthewRobin

          On Ukraine Turkey has been much more helpful than Germany, a supposed European leader. Turkey has sent useful weapons and brokered the black sea deal while Germany refuses to give useful weapons and blocks third party countries trying to send German weapons to Ukraine.

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            Dexember

            Huh? Turkey has leveraged its position of power in the black sea deal to maximize its position while trying not to go to far in either party's direction. And their closing of the Black Sea to outsiders favored Russia instantly.

            And which NATO member used Finland and Sweden's joining as an excuse to extract more concessions from everyone? Oh right, Turkey. Germany has reversed its nuclear policy and is taking it on the chin in energy for Ukraine. It hasn't been perfect, but it's coming along on weapons.

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    JohnD

    Thanks Charlotte - I think US and Turkish relationships over the next several years will be critically important, and this is one illustration of the inherent tension between them. Turkey will likely try to play multiple sides as it cooperates with Russia, tries to use both soft and hard power to dominate the Middle East, and tries to leverage its NATO membership. A complex situation indeed.

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