The real reason the US wants to placate Turkey over Khashoggi

NBC News reports that President Trump is considering expelling the U.S. resident and Turkish dissident, Fethullah Gulen, in return for Turkey reducing its pressure on Saudi Arabia over the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

But what’s really going on here is that the U.S. wants Turkey to avoid directly accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering Khashoggi’s killing. As I noted last month, Erdogan has dangled the prospect of blaming the crown prince. This allows the Turkish president to blackmail the Saudis. But why is the U.S. so concerned with him being blamed?