The agenda during this meeting is likely to be as busy as the one back in 2009. Yet on this occasion it is likely that both sides will be more cognizant of the limits of their influence in shaping events in the Middle East on their own—and how much they need each other. It is possible that this particular visit may finally be the one where U.S.-Turkish relations acquire a serious economic dimension, which both sides have tried to achieve since the days of Turgut Özal back in the 1980s. If this is achieved, U.S.-Turkish relations may develop the depth, expanse and grounding that finally take it beyond a sometimes fractious discussion of political and security cooperation.

Kemal Kirişci is the TUSIAD Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at The Brookings Institution.