Part of the reason for President Donald Trump’s deference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is Trump’s belief that Erdoğan is strong and can be a useful partner who will impose order. If that means sacrificing the Kurds, sacrificing Armenian and Syrian Christians, or putting up with a little Erdoğan terrorist sponsorship in Gaza, Syria, or Somalia, so be it. For Trump, reducing the expense and exposure of American forces abroad is worth the moral price.
Increasingly, however, it appears Erdoğan seeks to play Trump for a fool.
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