Source: Bloomberg
By Editorial Board
For the past few years, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has railed ever more belligerently against the U.S., Europe and NATO, Washington’s foreign-policy establishment has argued for patience. Erdogan’s fusillades, mostly intended for domestic consumption, were thought to be a small inconvenience — certainly not enough for the West to abandon Turkey.
Alas, the time has come to acknowledge a greater inconvenience: Turkey has, for all intents and purposes, abandoned the West.
Erdogan’s actions now match his rhetoric. His decision to take delivery of Russian S-400 missile-defense systems is a finger in NATO’s eye: Western officials have long warned against the purchase, saying the systems could gravely compromise NATO defenses by giving Russian technicians access to vital information on the latest American and European fighter aircraft. Turkey has also escalated tensions with Europe by sending natural-gas exploration vessels into the eastern Mediterranean waters claimed by Cyprus.
Read more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-18/turkey-under-erdogan-has-abandoned-the-west?srnd=opinion