Matthew Bryza: U.S. can’t afford to lose Turkey

Baku. 17 August. REPORT.AZ/ President Trump’s decision to double steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey — and reports that broader sanctions are being considered — mark a dangerous escalation.

Report informs citing the Anadolu, this is stated in article of nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who worked on Turkey policy at the National Security Council and State Department Matthew Bryza published by Washington Post.

This was an unprecedented hostile act against a NATO ally, timed to inflict maximum damage. Turkey is already struggling to stem the collapse of its currency, and Trump announced the tariffs precisely when Turkey’s minister of finance was delivering a crucial speech outlining his government’s plan for managing the country’s economic crisis.

According to M. Bryza abandoning Turkey now would weaken NATO, forfeit U.S. influence in the Middle East and threaten the coalition whose fight against ISIS is far from finished.

The United States has a lot at stake in the future of Turkey in particular, Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base.