U.S. foreign policy has always involved a battle to balance America’s national interests against its democratic values. But in the wake of the failed coup attempt in Turkey last week, President Barack Obama’s balancing act has been minimal. As thousands are rounded up across Turkey in a harsh crackdown, the president is clearly siding with America’s strategic priorities over its human rights concerns.
Yet a looming extradition fight could present him with an agonizing choice.
In what appears to be a move to use the the abortive military putsch as a pretext to eliminate all political opposition, Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrested, fired or suspended some 50,000 military officials, police officers, judges, governors and civil servants. Another 15,000 teachers were suspended Tuesday, along with the deans of all of the country’s universities. Vowing all those behind the coup attempt “will pay a very high price for this act of treason,” Erdogan says he favors reinstating the death penalty for their crimes. “These terrorist should be killed,” he told CNN through a translator on Monday, referring to the coup plotters. “Why should I keep them and feed them them in prisons for years to come?”
The vast purge has raised human rights concerns among Turkey’s Western allies, who in some cases have urged restraint and warned that Ankara’s membership in NATO, as well as its bid to join the European Union, would be at risk if the country is seen to be abandoning its commitment to democratic principles.
“NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy,” Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday in Brussels. “Obviously a lot of people have been arrested, and arrested very quickly. The level of vigilance is obviously going to be significant in the days ahead.”
But the White House quickly distanced Obama from Kerry’s not-so-veiled warning. Asked by a reporter whether Erdogan’s sweeping crackdown undermined Turkey’s democracy, White House press secretary Josh Earnest appeared to bend over backward to show Obama’s support for Erdogan. “I’m not prepared to pass judgment on the actions taken by the Erdogan government in just the last 24, 48 hours,” Earnest said. “Obviously, they’re reacting to a rather extraordinary situation—there was a failed coup attempt. And the United States has been strong in expressing our grave concern about that coup attempt, condemning it, and expressing our unequivocal support for the democratically elected civilian government of Turkey.”
Obama’s balancing act played out in a telephone conversation with Erdogan on Tuesday. According to a White House readout of their conversation, Obama again strongly condemned the attempt to overthrow Turkey’s democratically elected civilian government and praised Erdogan’s supporters for facing down mutinous military units in the streets and showing their “resolve against this violent intervention and their commitment to democracy.” As something of an afterthought, Obama also urged that the “investigations and prosecutions of the coup’s perpetrators be conducted in ways that reinforce public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law.”
The president’s remarks and those of his spokesman reflect the White House view that the crackdown and Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule take a back seat to the more urgent issues of Turkey’s role as NATO’s southern anchor at a time of growing Russian aggression; as a critical ally in the fight against Islamic State; and as a key player in controlling the flow of refugees out of the Syria and Iraq into Europe. The United States depends on Ankara to allow U.S. warplanes, Special Operations forces and intelligence officers to operate from airbases and other locations in Turkey.
Obama’s strategic priorities also reflect some hard lessons learned after his first-term moves to position the United States on what he called “the right side of history” during the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Those moves, which included abandoning embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a faithful U.S. ally for three decades, landed his presidency on the wrong side of many Middle Eastern allies, who came to question U.S. commitments to their security.
Castigated by those allies, a chastened Obama turned a blind eye in 2013 when the Egyptian military overthrew the democratically elected Islamist government that succeeded Mubarak and then arrested thousands of government critics.
But Obama’s support for Erdogan may be too late to rescue the fraying U.S.-Turkey relationship. The Turkish president said the coup had been orchestrated from afar by Fethullah Gulen, a former political ally who fell out with Erdogan in 1999 and now lives in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. He angrily accused the U.S. or harboring Gulen.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Tuesday that Ankara formally requested Gulen’s extradition and provided the U.S. with evidence of his alleged involvement in the failed coup. Earnest, the White House spokesman, said U.S. officials were reviewing the materials to determine if they met U.S. standards for evidence of wrongdoing and therefore qualified as a formal extradition request. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup and condemned it.
The future of U.S.-Turkish relations could very well depend on the U.S. response to the extradition request. With Erdogan probably preparing a hangman’s rope for Gulen, Obama will be forced once again to balance America’s values against its interests.
Jonathan Broder, a former foreign correspondent and editor, writes about foreign policy, defense and national security affairs from Washington.
