The outcome of Tuesday’s knife-edge US election is unlikely to have much of an impact on the tepid ties between Washington and Ankara, although presidential chemistry might help, experts say.
Long gone is the closeness of the 1990s when the United States and Turkey saw each other as indispensable allies.
Following an extended period of soul searching and crisis, the two NATO allies have settled into an uneasy if formulaic alliance where they agree to disagree on many issues while keeping dialogue open.
“Today, it looks like both have decided to agree on some issues, disagree on others and look for areas of cooperation,” Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told AFP.
Such areas include Africa “where Turkey has built influence, and Muslim Eurasia, where Turkey has historic influence, where the two could work together”, he said.
But many issues have soured ties.
In 2019, Washington removed Ankara from its F-35 fighter …