During the 1980s , relations between Turkey and the United States gradually recovered the closeness of earlier years . In March 1980 Turkey and the United States signed the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement ( DECA ) , in which the United States was granted access to 26 military facilities , in return for which Turkey could buy modern military hardware and was given $ 450 million to start shopping . Although Ankara resented continued attempts by the United States Congress to restrict military assistance to Turkey because of Cyprus and to introduce congressional resolutions condemning the Armenian Genocide , the Özal government generally perceived the administration of President George H.W. Bush as sympathetic to Turkish interests . It was in this period that the Turkish Aerospace Industries ( TAI ) was established and started to build F-16 Fighting Falcon jets under licence in Turkey . Washington also demonstrated its support of Özal 's market-oriented economic policies and efforts to open the Turkish economy to international trade by pushing for acceptance of an International Monetary Fund program to provide economic assistance to Turkey . Furthermore , the United States , unlike European countries , did not persistently and publicly criticize Turkey over allegations of human rights violations . Also , the United States did not pressure Özal on the Kurdish problem , another issue that seemed to preoccupy the Europeans . By 1989 the United States had recovered a generally positive image among the Turkish political elite
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Turkey–United States relations