A NATO ally which had promised to provide leadership in a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. They did, however, demand contracts and assistance for long-term reconstruction projects in the war-torn nation and help with its own overwhelming debt.

Washington played a crucial role in helping Turkey get $16 billion in loans, at which time Turkey also said it would allow the United States to use military bases there if the United Nations approved military action against neighbouring Iraq.

In March, 2003, during the war in Iraq, Turkey's government refused to allow American troops on their soil unless their demands to receive over $30 billion in loans and grants were met.