Will Emboldened Erdogan Cooperate with the U.S.?

While the United States certainly has an interest in Turkey taking further steps to impede the flow of foreign fighters through its territory to the Syrian conflict, how the AKP handles the Kurdish issue will have reverberations for the current U.S. strategy in Syria. Since July, the Turkish government has allowed American aircraft to fly strike missions from Incirlik Air Force Base in southeastern Turkey. The aircraft stationed at the base are flying strike missions in support of Syrian rebels fighting along the so-called Marea line in northern Aleppo, as well as in support of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a nationalist Kurdish group linked to the PKK, and its Arab allies.