Two defense officials told CNN there is a growing sense that much of the US military relationship with the Turkish military may have to be rebuilt following the attempted coup.
Given the large number of senior Turkish military officers arrested, one defense official said the question has become, "Who do we even talk to?"
And US officials privately point to Erdogan's comments this weekend about cleansing the military to explain their concerns that he could use the attempted coup as an opportunity to consolidate power.
Already, there are worries that the Pentagon's relationship with the Turkish military could suffer in ways that could affect US national security interests, including arms sales and future military exercises, as well as the fight against ISIS in neighboring Syria.
If Erdogan works at improving relations with other elements of Turkey's political system, and doesn't do permanent institutional damage, that will open the door to improving relations with the US and with the new White House occupant in 2017, Jeffrey said.
"If he continues his quasi-authoritarian government and Turkey becomes an institutionally limited democracy, that will mean a divided, weakened, dysfunctional Turkey, which we don't need and will violate our values," Jeffrey said. "We will have to react to that. It would be a recipe for worse relations."
