Earlier this week, President Donald Trump spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trump likes Erdoğan; he sees someone he believes he can deal with in Turkey’s president. Erdoğan is savvy. By offering to help mediate between Russia and Ukraine and perhaps even the United States and Iran, he believes he can become essential to Trump.
The price Erdoğan demands is high. He seeks to sever U.S. ties to its Syrian-Kurdish partners in the fight against the Islamic State. The arrest of Istanbul Mayor (and likely presidential challenger) Ekrem İmamoğlu is also part of the package. However, even if Trump did not give explicit permission, Erdoğan came away from the conversation with a sense of impunity. The biggest prize Erdoğan reportedly sought in his phone
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