Should the US be worried about the thriving Turkey-Russia alliance?

America has been Turkey’s old friend for 200 years since the Ottoman period. Even though sometimes they were on different sides, or followed different ideas, they never excluded each other; never drifted away from each other.

Today, Turkey’s surrounding regions are more restless than ever and the US is more than ever active in the same region and Turkey is more important than ever for the US as a strategic ally. It is no secret that from time to time US intervention in the region conflicts with Turkey’s demands, values and priorities. The disagreements, particularly on the topic of PYD, definitely have caused some dissension in the region. The fact that US declared PYD, the direct origin of the Stalinist terror Turkey has been fighting for years, as allies despite the warnings and demands of Turkey, brought deep issues with it and raised questions concerning the US-Turkey alliance.

{mosads}While these issues were still hot, the improving relations between Turkey and Russia raised eyebrows. These two old friends, whose relations improved after the jet crisis, signed large scaled agreements together out of the blue. The first step was the recommencement of the Charter flights and the removal of the majority of the restrictions on trade. Efforts for visa-free travel between the two countries were accelerated, and a Russian-Turkish joint investment council was founded. A cooperation agreement was signed for the defense industry, a triple consultation mechanism was established between Turkey, Russia and Azerbaijan, and a safety line between Moscow and Ankara was created. The investment agreement between Russia and Turkey, which was signed right after American credit rating agency Moody’s declared Turkey as “non-investable”, was considered by many to be done out of spite by Turkey. The Turkish Stream Natural Gas Project, signed right after this decision, has become a historical agreement. Soon after, Turkey stated that they would be taking a bid from Russia for an air defense system between Russia and Turkey.

As a result of all these developments, this was the commonly asked question: “Is Turkey shifting its political proximity from US to Russia?”

The answer is “no”. Turkey is a valued and firm ally of Russia, as it is of the US. This fact didn’t change during the communist Soviet regime, or during the Cold War. Even in politically tense periods where US and Russia represented polar opposites, Turkey was able to remain as a friend of both countries.

Similar to centuries of Turkey-US friendship, the friendship between Turkey and Russia dates back approximately 500. Even though bilateral relations between two countries underwent difficult periods, fundamentally, the friendship survived.

Additionally during the period where Turkey fought directly against communism alongside the US in Korean War in 1950, the relationship between Turkey and Russia was friendly. The fact that Turkey was on good terms with Russia during times when Turkey made its side clear as a NATO member, should give assurance to US. Currently NATO has 28 airbases on Turkish soil including Incirlik. These airbases have never been considered as a damaging threat to the relations between Turkey and Russia. As it can be clearly seen, having close relations with the US never meant drifting apart from Russia for Turkey. Therefore, the current close relations with Russia don’t mean drifting apart from US for Turkey. This is due to Turkey’s long time principle of “good relations with neighbors and allies”. In no point in history Turkey’s friendships were based on enmities with other nations.

Turkey always aimed to “grow with its friends”. For this reason, it always gave importance to US-Russia alliance. Both Russia and US will always remain as a friend of Turkey.

Turkey would never abandon the US on a national basis. However, the main issue the US government should be worried about is the sense of “mistrust” that recently emerged within the Turkish public concerning the American administration. The Turkish government considers the US government as an ally, and Turkish people like American people. However, Turkish people consider the open support US gives to the terrorist organization PYD as dangerous, and can’t come to terms with the fact that the support is coming from an ally. Hence, US should worry more about the sense of mistrust the Turkish people feel than the Turkey-Russia convergence. Tangible and decisive steps should be taken to eliminate this sense of mistrust. Pledges made especially for the sake of the US presidential race shouldn’t be of a nature that stirs up these sensible topics between the two countries. Nations that can win the hearts of the people are considered as loyal and permanent friends by those countries’ people. For the Turkish people, who place great importance on loyalty and faithfulness, this bond becomes priceless. 

Harun Yahya is a Turkish author of the bestseller “Islam Denounces Terrorism.”

The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.