This month has seen the U.S.-Turkey relationship reach a historic low. After Ankara arrested a second U.S. consulate employee, Washington decided to suspend visa services in Turkey, with Ankara following suit. This week, Turkish diplomats aiming to resolve the standoff were denied visas to the U.S.

How will recent events affect Turkey’s relations with the U.S. and other NATO allies? How should the U.S. respond? What can and should be done to deal with Erdogan's "hostage diplomacy," which has seen a growing number of western nationals imprisoned in Turkey since the 2016 failed coup attempt.

Dr. Kilic Kanat, research director at the SETA Foundation (Washington, D.C.) and Political Science Professor at Penn State University-Erie, will give a presentation on the current status of U.S.- Turkey relations.

Kilic Bugra Kanat is the Research Director at the SETA Foundation at Washington DC. He is also a Professor of Political Science at Penn State University, Erie. Dr. Kanat received his PhD in Political Science from Syracuse University; a Master’s degree in Political Science from Syracuse University; and a Master’s in International Affairs from Marquette University. He was awarded the Outstanding Research Award and Council of Fellows Faculty Research Award at Penn State, Erie in 2015. He previously participated in the Future Leaders program of Foreign Policy Initiative. Dr. Kanat’s writings have appeared in Foreign Policy, Insight Turkey, The Diplomat, Middle East Policy, Arab Studies Quarterly, Mediterranean Quarterly, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, and Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. He is a columnist at Daily Sabah. He is the author of A Tale of Four Augusts: Obama’s Syria Policy. He is also co-editor of edited volumes History, Politics and Foreign Policy in Turkey, Change and Adaptation in Turkish Foreign Policy, and Politics and Foreign Policy in Turkey: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives.