Obama's legacy on Turkish-American relations

As the U.S. presidential elections near, many people, including President Barack Obama himself, have been engaging in a reassessment of the last eight years of American foreign policy.

For Turkey, the tumultuous course of Turkish-American relations during the Obama administration has exhibited parallels to the challenges Ankara has faced in the international arena.

When Obama made his first presidential visit to Turkey in 2009, it was a deliberate choice. Turkey, as a Muslim country, with a vibrant economy, young and dynamic population and location at the crossroads of continents, seemed like the ideal spot for President Obama to deliver a message to the Muslim world that the U.S. was seeking a new beginning based on mutual interest and respect. 

During his speech in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Obama's emphasis was on Turkey's secular democratic character and its commitment to the goal of European Union membership, but above all, it was Turkey's ability to engage in a peaceful dialogue with all the countries in the neighborhood. 

Looking back, Turkey used to be such a promising partner for the U.S. as part of a solution to various regional conflicts that in an interview in 2012, President Obama cited then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an as one of the five foreign leaders with whom he had succeeded in building trust and friendship. 

But the same Obama would complain about his disillusionment with President Erdo?an just four years later.

So what went wrong?

Weathering the storm of the false Arab Spring, Turkey has experienced its own share of political transformation, which not only eroded constitutional checks and balances and activated social fault lines within society, but also cost Turkey...