Washington must recognise Turkey is ‘no ally’ of the United States - JINSA head
Turkey’s attitude towards the recent diplomatic
accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates offers insight about who
America’s true allies are, said Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the
Jewish Institute for National Security of America, in Newsweek.
“The UAE-Israel deal not only advances U.S.
interests and values, but offers a rare clarifying moment about who are
America's partners – and who aren't, and don't deserve to be,” the former
Pentagon official wrote in an op-ed published on Thursday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
threatened to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates on
Friday, after the Gulf country signed a U.S.-sponsored normalisation agreement
with Israel.
Makovsky called Erdoğan’s “vehement” response a concern for
the United States, which is allied with all three regional players Turkey,
Israel and the UAE. “Erdogan's
denunciations confirm his place among the Middle East's anti-Israel,
anti-American, Islamic extremists and revisionists.”
The JINSA president cited numerous cases in which
Turkey’s foreign policy contrasted with U.S. and Israeli interests – including
supporting the pan-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, arming and protecting jihadists
in Syria and allowing them to use Turkish territory, stonewalling U.S. attempts
to use Turkish military bases to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), attacking
U.S.-backed Kurdish forces fighting ISIS and Erdogan’s history of rhetoric and threats
against Israel.
“This track record, and especially his purchase of
Russian S-400 ground-to-air missiles, has made U.S. policymakers increasingly
wary of Erdoğan,” Makovsky said, referring to the ongoing
spat between United States and Turkey over the S-400 purchase.
Washington says Turkey’s purchase jeopardises NATO’s
defence systems, allowing Russia to study them. U.S. lawmakers have called for
sanctions against Turkey over the matter, however, U.S. President Donald Trump,
who maintains warm relations with Erdoğan,
has pushed back.
“Yet the instinct to treat Erdoğan
as a trustworthy partner persists. Turkey remains a member of NATO and hosts an
important U.S. military base,”
Makovsky wrote. “U.S.
presidents have repeatedly turned to Erdoğan
for assistance, most recently to counter Russia and Iran.”
Makovsky suggested the United State should break the
“old habit” and recognise that Turkey is “no U.S. ally”, denying the country
special consideration, collaborating only when Turkish and American interests
align and make efforts to check Turkey’s influence.
He also recommended Washington strengthen ties with
Syrian Kurds and the UAE-backed, self-styled Libyan National Army, led by rogue
General Khalifa Haftar, who is fighting against the Turkish-backed Islamist
government in the capital Tripoli. The United States has maintained a backseat
role in Libya’s conflict to date.
Makovsky also suggested Washington move U.S.
military units to the eastern Mediterranean to support Greece in its latest
territorial dispute with Turkey. Political and military tensions between NATO
allies Turkey and Greece have surged in the past year after Turkey sought to
explore for minerals in Greek and Cypriot territorial waters.
“The Pentagon should also reallocate some military
assets from Turkey to Greece – also a NATO ally, and one that is democratic and
has a pro-American prime minister – station more U.S. forces in Greece, bolster
Greek defenses and support Greek claims against Turkey on behalf of its
exclusive economic zone,” he said.
Makovsky also called for strong U.S. support for the
Turkish people, “expressing hope for the resumption of a U.S.-Turkish
partnership”.
