Have Turkey And The U.S. Ever Shared The Same Interests? Not Really.

Some analysts have labeled the recent spat between Ankara and Washington (a 'tit-for-tat diplomatic crisis'  ) as 'the worst crisis' between the two NATO allies, but the relationship has been bad for years.

According to senior fellow Steven A. Cook, "the United States and Turkey have been headed for a collision since Christmas Day in 1991, when the Soviet Union disintegrated."

Much of the analysis written about Turkey over the last years focuses on Erdogan's political power, but Cook claims that if Turkey's main opposition party were in power, there would still be tension between the two countries.

Mainly because analysts are obscuring other important factors:

• The U.S. and Turkey share neither values nor interests.
• The heyday of the U.S.-Turkey alliance was over 25 years ago, and a lot has changed since then.

For those following the events in Turkey, with special attention paid to the relationship between Ankara and Washington, this piece is an interesting analysis which highlights new points for discussion.

What if the world has overestimated Turkey's capacities? What if the world has misread Erdogan's worldview?