US should ‘get tougher’ on Turkey

The United States must take a firmer stance toward Turkey and stop underestimating the growing anti-American sentiment in the country, according to Steven Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington, in this interview with Kathimerini.

Cook argues that both the Erdogan government and other political parties in Turkey actively foster anti-Americanism, which he describes as "a way to mine political gold." He urges Washington to exert pressure on Ankara by making it clear that the sale of F-35 fighter jets will not proceed and that the delivery of F-16 warplanes will be postponed.

In light of the shocking incident in Izmir (when two US citizen military personnel in civilian clothes were physically attacked by a group of 15 people who are members of the Turkish Youth Union [TGB]),...