Recently, Turkey has been the troubled child of NATO. The aftermath of the alleged coup from July 2016—which saw a crackdown on thousands of government officials and journalists imprisoned—had caused distress among the allies. Then, in November 2017, Ankara announced the completion of a deal with Russia that would see the purchase of four S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries by the Turkish government for US$2.5 billion. Announcing a done-deal without prior informing let alone receiving a green light by NATO is an affront to the alliance—not only because relations with non-NATO member Russia are at all-time low, but more importantly because the S-400s are not compatible with any NATO-owned systems. Read More