Despite Turkey’s strategic role in U.S. defense policy, the military needs to have a contingency plan to move its bases out of the country, according to a recent study by a Washington, D.C. think tank.
“Although I join most observers in continuing to believe that the U.S.-Turkish relationship is crucial and that Incirlik’s role is particularly important in the context of the anti-IS (ISIS) struggle, it is clearly time to face the possibility that the U.S. may, against its will, be forced to leave,” wrote Eric Edelman, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and current senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
The report, titled, “Covering the Bases: Reassessing U.S. Military Deployments in Turkey After the July 2016 Attempted Coup d’Etat,” emphasizes the importance of trying to maintain Turkey’s role in NATO through all diplomatic means, but also recognizes the fractured relationship between the U.S. and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Creating a contingency plan for U.S. forces based in Turkey serves a dual purpose, according to the authors. First, it ensures that the U.S. can continue operations against enemies in the Middle East in other areas of the region. Second, it serves as a diplomatic tool to encourage Erdogan to cease engaging in policies contrary to U.S. and NATO interests.
“Moving NATO bases out of Turkey is the last course of action,” said FDD senior fellow John Cappello, the report’s lead author, in a press statement provided to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Any pressure the United States brings to bear on Turkey should be applied delicately and in coordination with NATO members. But signaling to Erdoğan that the U.S. is not solely dependent on Turkey could help to put the relationship back on equal footing.”
Turkey serves as a crucial staging area for U.S. forces in the Middle East, especially in the fight against Islamic State. Incirlik Air Base, which is located close to ISIS territory along Turkey’s southern border, has been a main base of operations for the U.S. air campaign against ISIS.
Despite Turkey’s NATO membership, Erdogan’s policies have fractured the country’s relationship with the West. Erdogan’s government has allegedly supported terrorist groups, and has only recently clamped down on the massive flow of ISIS fighters traveling through Turkey on their way to Syria. Furthermore, Erdogan has become increasingly close to Iran and Russia, in an apparent attempt to create a partnership between the three countries regarding Syria.
“This would not only send a message to Turkey, but to other regional powers, that the United States seeks strong partnerships with allies that share common values, interests, and vision,” said Cappello, in the press statement. “This would not only send a message to Turkey, but to other regional powers, that the United States seeks strong partnerships with allies that share common values, interests, and vision.”
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