Turkey's Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar chats with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford during a meeting in Antalya, Turkey March 7, 2017. Turkish Military/Handout via REUTERS
CNBC: Pentagon: 'No interruption' in US-Turkey military relationship despite standoff over American pastor Andrew Brunson
* Despite growing tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, the Pentagon said Monday that the relationship between Washington and Ankara's military has not deteriorated.
* Much of the recent tension has centered around an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was detained in Turkey in October 2016.
* Meanwhile, all of this comes as Congress is inching closer to blocking the transfer of two F-35 jets to Turkey.
Despite the growing tensions between the White House and Turkey, the Pentagon said Monday that the relationship between Washington and Ankara's military has not deteriorated.
"No there has been no interruption in our relationship with Turkey at all," U.S. Army Col Rob Manning told reporters Monday when asked if the tit-for-tat tariffs were impacting ties with the NATO ally.
Much of the recent tension has centered around an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was detained in Turkey n October 2016. Turkey accused the North Carolina native of spying and attempting to overthrow the government. Brunson has denied all charges.
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WNU Editor: Political relations between the U.S. and Turkey have collapsed. The only thing that keeps this military relationship going is because of Turkey's NATO commitments and Erdogan's desire to keep relations with Europe neutral. Kicking the U.S. military out of Turkey will in turn impact NATO, and that will be quickly followed by European reaction and blow-back.
1 comment:
These Turkish military liaisons are all Erdogan's men, not the independent military men from 10 years ago so they are following Erdogan's orders, as they should. Turkey's woven into NATO's fabric and American defense business and is loath to give it up. Same for the USA. However the military ties can't resist the political winds much longer, especially with the looming disbarment of Turkey from the F-35 program. That will be the catalyst to cause all sorts of military retaliations in Turkey and the US. Actions include interruptions to the F-35 supply chain and cash going to Turkish firms, Incirlik closed to US forces, Turkish people told to leave the US and so forth. Huge stakes involved for Turkey especially. The US exposure isn't so great on the other hand. People keep saying Turkey is vital to NATO and I suppose it is. It isn't vital to the USA anymore due to the practical energy independence of the USA from middle eastern sourced oil. Europe is deeply exposed though and faces some dire consequences of the break down of US-Turkish relations. Under Obama, Turkey allowed millions of military aged men to swarm across its borders just so long as they kept moving on to Europe.
Another consequence of the vast discoveries of American energy resources over the past 10 years.
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