In advance of the NATO defense ministers meeting tomorrow and Thursday, POMED’s Turkey Program Coordinator Merve Tahiroğlu writes about the dual challenge that Turkey’s foreign aggression and domestic repression pose to the alliance. In a new POMED commentary, Tahiroğlu notes that the Biden administration appears concerned about both some of Turkey’s foreign policy moves and its rising authoritarianism, and that NATO should be as well. 

“The alliance is nothing if not a club of like-minded states trying to defend common values against a common threat,” Tahiroğlu argues. “Turkey’s NATO partners should make it clear to Erdoğan that his contempt for democracy, the rule of law, and human rights—and not just his foreign policy choices—significantly damage Turkey’s standing in the alliance.”