For too long, the United States has indulged the illusion that Turkey remains a dependable NATO ally. That illusion ended forthis writer in 2003 when the Turkish parliament refused to let the U.S. 4th Infantry Division cross its territory.
In his memoirs "Known and Unknown," former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote:
"Without a threat to Saddam's forces in the north and west from U.S. troops advancing from Turkish soil, enemy fighters would have an opportunity to escape to the north and operate in the Sunni-dominated provinces where there would be no coalition presence early on.
"Our inability to invade Iraq from Turkey may well have been a key factor in the rise of a Sunni-backed insurgency after major combat operations ended."
Without a northern front, those elite Iraqi units survived.
Paul Bremer served as the second de facto head of state of Iraq, leading the Coalition Provisional Authority. This following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Bremer dissolved the Iraqi Army and implemented sweeping "de-Ba'athification," thousands of trained fighters were left embittered and unemployed.
Saddam Hussein’s deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, soon became a key leader in the Iraqi insurgency, recruiting heavily from former Republican Guard officers. That parliamentary vote was the first clear signal: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was not our friend.
In June 2025, Dr. Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Dr. Rubin described how Erdoğan has reshaped Turkey’s state institutions.
In the early years, Erdoğan manipulated civil service exams to favor graduates of religious seminaries. When that didn't produce enough loyalists, he introduced subjective interviews to reward political alignment over competence.
That mindset now dominates the judiciary, military, universities, and civil service.
Dissent is not tolerated.
The government’s expansive Anti-Terror Law allows it to imprison journalists, academics, and Kurdish politicians with impunity.
Turkey now ranks among the world's worst offenders for press freedom.
The "Erdoganist" state has systematically eroded conditions for minorities in Turkey.
The Greek Orthodox population in Turkey has plummeted — from nearly two million a century ago to just around 2,000 today — and the Ecumenical Patriarchate still lacks legal status under Turkish law.
Since 1971, the Halki Seminary has remained closed, leaving the Church unable to train new clergy within Turkey.
Armenian cultural sites continue to be desecrated, and the government maintains its denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Jewish citizens face rising antisemitic rhetoric in state-aligned media. Kurdish identity is regularly treated as a national security threat.
In foreign policy, Erdoğan’s government has exploited NATO membership to extract concessions from allies, while simultaneously cultivating closer ties with Russia and Iran. The United States must respond with clear, principled boundaries.
There should be no transfers of advanced weapons systems if Turkey’s foreign policy is hostile to the United States. In 2019, we stopped the F-35 because Turkey acquired the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system.
Last week, a bipartisan letter was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio by forty members of Congress urging the administration not to allow Turkey to be readmitted to the F-35 program.
In this joint letter, these lawmakers wrote, "The S-400 poses a direct threat to U.S. aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35. If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence."
Turkey should also be added to the State Department’s "Special Watch List" for religious freedom violations.
Congress should fund alternatives to the Incirlik Air Base and remove its tactical nuclear weapons from Turkey.
The larger danger is not Erdoğan himself, but the Erdoganist system which is built to endure long after its architect is gone.
In "The Final Problem" (1893), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Moriarty warns Sherlock Holmes, "You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty organization.”
At the conclusion of their confrontation, Moriarty said, "You hope to beat me. I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you."
Holmes replied, "If I were assured of the former eventuality, I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter."
Even after Holmes defeats Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, he fakes his own death and vanishes for three years to avoid the remnants of Moriarty’s organization. In "The Adventure of the Empty House," Holmes returns to London and is nearly assassinated by Colonel Sebastian Moran — Moriarty’s most dangerous surviving lieutenant.
"Erdoganism" will have its own Morans, embedded in Turkey’s courts, military, and security services long after Erdoğan departs.
There are many courageous people in Turkey who live with this reality every day.
The United States must insist that any partnership with Turkey be grounded in loyalty and respect for individual rights. President Reagan understood this balance when dealing with the Soviet Union.
Before his first summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva, then-President Ronald Reagan said:
"The rights of the individual and the rule of law are as fundamental to peace as arms control. A government which does not respect its citizens' rights and its international commitments to protect those rights is not likely to respect its other international undertakings.
"And that's why we must and will speak in Geneva on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. We are not trying to impose our beliefs on others.
"We have a right to expect, however, that great states will live up to their international obligations."
That expectation must apply to Turkey now.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer. His work focuses on foreign affairs, national security, and presidential history. He's been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, The Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.
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