Turkish-American strategic partnership: is Turkey still a faithful ally?

ABSTRACT It has been widely argued that Turkish foreign policy has undergone a shift of axis under the ruling AKP, moving Turkey away from its Western alliance towards new alignments. The article employs neoclassical realism to explain the Turkish foreign policy behaviour, particularly Turkey’s policies vis-à-vis the United States and Russia in recent years. It aims to provide an account of Turkey’s military operations in Syria, the changing nature of Turkish-American relations, and Turkish-Russian strategic rapprochement, which has been raising concerns over Turkey’s faithful ally role in the transatlantic alliance. The tensions between Turkey and the US have gradually escalated following the American refusal to hand over Fethullah Gülen, Turkey’s military operations in Syria, Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 antiaircraft systems, and its removal from the F-35 fighter jet programme. The article analyzes both the unit-level variables and the systemic variables to explain Turkey’s evolving security and defence policies against the changing power structures and the implications of these policies on the country’s deteriorating relations with the US, competitive cooperation with Russia, and the future of the transatlantic alliance.