On 26 April 2021, Turkish law enforcement officers arrested 532 people accused of having ties to Fetullah Gülen’s organization. This former ally of President Erdoğan’s is said to have organized – with the help of the CIA – an attempted assassination of the president which petered out into an improvised coup d’etat in 2016. He is now a refugee in the United States.

Around 80,000 Turkish citizens have been imprisoned since the 2016 events and are still awaiting trial, while more than 150,000 officials have been booted out.

Turkey, a historical adversary of Russia, has moved closer to her. In particular, it acquired Russia’s anti-aircraft protection system, being aware of the role of its own air forces in the 2016 operation. It is currently negotiating the purchase of a second batch of S-400 surface-to-air missiles.

Until now, Turkey remains in Washington’s camp and a member of NATO, even though her president is increasingly perceived as an antagonist.

Turkey has deployed troops to Cyprus, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

This ambiguous position is evidenced by the new anti-Turkish alliance constituted by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Israel and possibly Iran.

US NATO troops were reportedly instructed to leave Turkey after President Biden recognized the Armenian genocide, but no official timetable has been set. The question of the destruction of Turkey, considered since 2001 by the Pentagon within the framework of the “endless war” (Rumsfeld / Cebrowski strategy), is back on the table.