"U.S.-Turkey tensions came as Ankara and Washington had diverging interests in Syria. Washington supports the Kurdish People's Protection Units, which is considered as terrorist organization by Ankara. But despite the anti-Turkish rhetoric, the Pentagon realizes Turkey is very important to NATO," RISS expert Vladimir Fitin said.
He underscored that Turkey had the second largest army in NATO. V.Fitin suggested that the USA wanted to put pressure on Turkey, but did not take into account the ambitions of R.Erdogan, who would like to be compared with M.Ataturk, founder of the turkish republic.
"It is difficult to expect that Turkey will unconditionally follow the American instructions. At the same time, the U.S. sanctions against Turkey may be very painful for country's economy. The near future will show if confrontation between the two powers develops into an open conflict," RISS expert said.