Examining the crisis in Turkish-American relations between 1980-2023 from a defensive and offensive realist perspective

Due to its geographical location, Turkey, which we can define as a 'Medium-Sized State', interacts with the USA in various regions, including the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus and the Black Sea. The Neo-Realist view of system-wide patterns of American and Turkish interaction in these regions began with the realization that there are structural differences between these regions and that the relative military power of the main participants in these regions differs. Turkish-American relations, which started in the 1800s, followed a course of ups and downs. However, despite everything, the two states still see each other as an "important ally" and a "strategic partner" that should not be lost. In this study, the causes and consequences of the tensions in Turkish-American relations between 1980 and 2023 were analyzed in detail from the perspective of defensive and aggressive neorealism, which is an international relations theory. Since the studies examining the post-1980 and especially the last two decades of Turkey deal with the subject from a narrow perspective in analyzing and resolving Turkish-American tensions, this study has been carried out with the aim of presenting Turkish-American tensions from both a defensive and aggressive neorealist perspective.