Turkey believes it is too big to fail, that Washington needs Ankara more than Ankara needs Washington. Across multiple administrations, U.S. presidents have largely agreed. That belief has bought Turkey remarkable latitude even as, for over two decades under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it has engaged in behavior that often runs counter to U.S. interests: purchasing Russian air defenses in defiance of U.S. law; blocking NATO consensus on enlargement and cooperation; detaining American citizens; funding and sheltering U.S.-designated terrorist organizations; and becoming one of the leading global hubs for Russian sanctions evasion.
This page brings together JINSA’s research on Turkish behavior, updated as new evidence emerges: a JINSA Insight documenting the hundreds of Turkey-based individuals and entities sanctioned by the United States since 2008; a detailed spreadsheet of every sanctioned entity with program, nationality, and sourcing; and a chronological timeline of Turkish actions contrary to American and allied interests since 2002, organized by category and led by the entries that most directly bear on Turkey’s reliability, or lack thereof, as a U.S. ally. Together they offer policymakers a factual record that outlasts the diplomatic language of any particular moment.
| Overview of Major Turkish Actions Contrary to U.S. Interests | |
|---|---|
| Date | Event |
| March 2003 | Turkish Parliament blocks U.S. troop deployment in Turkey in lead-up to Iraq War. |
| March 2012 | Turkey’s Halkbank starts gas-for-gold scheme with Iran, violating U.S. sanctions. |
| September 2013 | Turkey agrees to purchase China’s FD-2000 air defense system over U.S. Patriot missiles; Turkey cancelled the deal in 2015 under NATO pressure. |
| June 2016 | U.S. Intelligence Community reports Turkey funds al-Qaeda offshoot Jabhat al-Nusra. |
| July 2016 | Turkey cuts power to U.S. troops at İncirlik base following coup attempt. |
| July 2016 | Erdoğan accuses United States of “taking sides with the coup plotters,” pointing to its refusal to extradite Fethullah Gülen from Pennsylvania. |
| October 2016 | Turkey detains Andrew Brunson, a U.S. citizen, holding him in captivity for over 2 years. |
| September 2017 | Turkey purchases Russia’s S-400 air defenses for $2.5 billion. |
| February 2018 | Erdoğan threatens U.S. forces in Syria with “Ottoman slap” and to “bury” them. |
| July 2019 | Turkey acquires Russian S-400s, prompting its removal from the F-35 program. |
| October 2019 | Turkey launches Operation Peace Spring into Syria, leading to clashes with U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. |
| December 2019 | Erdoğan threatens closure of Incirlik base hosting U.S. nuclear arms. |
| December 2019 | Turkey threatens to block NATO’s Baltic and Poland defense plans unless allies backed Ankara against the YPG. |
| March 2020 | Erdoğan attempts to “blackmail” NATO allies with migrant flows. |
| August 2020 | Turkey violates international Libyan arms embargo and blocks NATO-EU enforcement. |
| August 2020 | Turkey grants citizenship and passports to ~12 senior Hamas operatives in Istanbul; days later Erdoğan hosts Haniyeh, drawing a formal U.S. State Department objection. |
| March 2022 | Turkey refuses to join the West in sanctioning Russia following Russian invasion. |
| May 2022 | Turkey blocks Finland + Sweden from joining NATO for months. |
| September 2023 | The U.S. sanctions five Turkey-based firms for supplying dual-use components used in Russian drones and missiles, as Turkey emerges as a leading hub for Russian sanctions evasion. |
| October 2023 | U.S. downs Turkish drone as it approaches U.S. positions in Syria. |
| October 2023 | Erdoğan says “Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation group.” |
| July 2024 | Turkey unilaterally blocks NATO cooperation with Israel. |
| November 2025 | Turkey issues arrest warrants for PM Netanyahu and 36 other senior Israeli officials. |