Turkey’s Drift From Democracy Could Raise Long-Term Issues for NATO

Turkey’s shift away from democracy under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may create long-term issues in Ankara’s relationship to NATO if the trend continues, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The United States has repeatedly encouraged Turkey to respect democratic values and institutions in the aftermath of the coup.

"Obviously, [Erdogan] is moving in a very authoritarian way, and I guess the concern that we would have over time is its effect on Turkey being a democracy, which is sort of a threshold event for NATO itself," Corker said Monday after a closed briefing on US-Turkish relations.

The concern over Turkey's governance relative to NATO is not imminent, but "it is moving in a direction at present which is unhealthy," Corker added.

Following the July 15 attempted military coup in Turkey, Ankara began a crackdown on government opposition and journalists. Over 40,000 people have been detained in Turkey in connection with the coup attempt, which Ankara has blamed on a US-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers.

"[Erdogan] is taking steps now with the purge that are going way beyond trying to overcome the coup itself and the people who have been involved," Corker stated.