WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The United States has repeatedly encouraged Turkey to respect democratic values and institutions in the aftermath of the coup.
"Obviously, [Erdogan] is moving in a very authoritarian way, and I guess the concern that we would have over time is its effect on Turkey being a democracy, which is sort of a threshold event for NATO itself," Corker said Monday after a closed briefing on US-Turkish relations.
The concern over Turkey's governance relative to NATO is not imminent, but "it is moving in a direction at present which is unhealthy," Corker added.
"[Erdogan] is taking steps now with the purge that are going way beyond trying to overcome the coup itself and the people who have been involved," Corker stated.