Russia damaged Turkey’s economy in the name of diplomacy. Is the US about to do the same?

Istanbul

President Erdogan has spent much of this year slinging muck at Europe’s heads of state, and he has damaged a number of already precarious relationships. Now it looks as if he is about to come up against the force of US diplomacy and Turkey may find itself in trouble. Turkey and the US have been Nato allies since 1952. During that time, Turkey has played up its strategic position for military bases close to the Middle East. In turn, the US has downplayed a number of disputes between the two countries, particularly in recent years as the conflict in Syria has raged on. Even as they seemed to be at each other’s throats over the difficult issue of US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, top officials worked hard not to cause too much upset. After the failed coup last year, the two countries faced another test. Would the US extradite the man President Erdogan personally blamed, Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen? In its best diplomatic speak, the US said it would ‘need to consider the evidence’, a response that failed to satisfy Erdogan.