"Turkey, the EU and the U.S. - Disaster Looming?"

Dramatic developments in Turkish, European Union and U.S. relations in 2016 have led to serious crises between Turkey and its two traditionally strongest Western supporters. After the July 15 attempted coup, Turkey is demanding that the U.S. extradite to Turkey the alleged mastermind of the attempt, Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric living in exile in the U.S. Ankara also is warming ties with Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, raising fears of weakening NATO and aligning Turkey more closely with Moscow. Towards the EU, Turkey is threatening to stop enforcing its refugee agreement with the EU, highlighting the specter of renewed unregulated immigration to Europe, new tensions within the EU on dealing with refugees, and human tragedy as a result of the Syrian war. Are these three critical international players doomed to failure in resolving their differences, and, if not, could diplomacy help steer the relations in a better direction?

Panelists include: Ambassador W. Robert Pearson (former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey), Dr. Erhard Busek (former Vice-Chancellor of Austria), and Dr. Gönül Tol (founding director of the Middle East Institute's Center for Turkish Studies).