Turkey's plans to buy the S-400 missile defense system from Russia has sparked unprecedented tensions between Turkey and the U.S. Neither side will back off, and the prospect of an irreparable rupture in relations is looming. Yet the current crisis is not the source, but the result of the widening divergence between the two countries. Along with strategic disputes, Turkey's growing corruption is imperiling relations on an even larger scale. Corruption is omnipresent, but it didn’t start with Recip Tayyip Erdoğan, although Erdoğan has institutionalized corruption in Turkey by creating a hierarchical network encompassing many fields of economic activity. Over time, this network has begun to define how Turkey engages with other countries. Erdoğan's vast network emerged in 2013 when a well-documented investigation by the police exposed a gigantic bribery and money laundering ring involved in illegal gold transfers to Iran. The ring included  ministers in...(Read Full Article)