But the idea that Iran, Syria, and Russia are waiting for Turkey's economy to collapse to rush in and rescue Turkey to "flip" Turkey away from NATO is nonsense:
Do we really want Turkey to turn toward Iran, Syria, or Russia? Because that's one potential outcome if the West cannot find a way to keep Erdogan inside the fold. ...
The worst-case scenario is a Turkish government that cannot pay the army that controls its borders, in search of "new friends" to bail it out.
Mind you, Erdogan is destroying Turkey's economy and it will need rescuing.
(And really, what happens to Erdogan after he boasted "they have dollars, we have God" when the dollars win?)
But in what world could any of those three afford to rescue Turkey's economy?
I've mentioned China as a potential Turkish patron (complete with China's protective UN Security Council veto).
Sure, China could afford it. But there would be friction given China's mass imprisonment and persecution of Moslems.
Or can an Islamist but economically desperate Turkey with delusions of imperial grandeur re-mold itself to look away from such repression in order to get a nuclear power patron?
Honestly, Europeans have an interest in rescuing Turkey (as that God and dollars article explains), but the problem is Erdogan and no financial rescue can fix that problem.
Finally, any American sanctions are hardly causing Turkey's problems. They will just be what Erdogan can blame for his economic idiocy. Let's hope Turkey releases the American help hostage prisoner soon so we can drop sanctions (but regardless, there is no way we should let Turkey buy 100+ F-35s, which they currently plan to buy).
If we can rescue our relationship with Turkey, I definitely want to do that. But the problem flows from Erdogan's decisions and not ours.
