Signs of Thaw between Turkey and West after Erdogan Win

When Turkey agreed this month to deploy 700 commandos to beef up NATO’s operations in northern Kosovo following clashes with Serbs, the message it sent was not just to Belgrade and Pristina.

“I read it as a goodwill gesture to NATO”, said Dimitar Bechev, Lecturer at Oxford University’s Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, OGSA, one that also underscored Turkey’s clout in the Balkans.

The question now is whether such a gesture may signal a shift in Turkey’s relations with the West now that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party have both secured new terms in office following elections in May.