Erdoğan cashes in on Trump relationship for Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is cashing in on his relationship with President Trump, scoring benefits from sanctions relief to dropped court cases ahead of a high-stakes NATO summit in Ankara next month. 

Trump’s decision to greenlight a more than $700 million military sales package to Turkey this week — despite a pushback from some lawmakers — represents Erdoğan’s latest win in Washington. The sale is for advanced jet engines, allowing Turkey to follow through on developing its domestic fleet of next-generation fighter jets. 

Trump lavished praise on Erdoğan when asked Wednesday about the military sale by a reporter, commending the Turkish leader for holding back aid to Iran when the U.S. and Israel launched the war against that country in late February. 

“He was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran, maybe on the Iran side because he’s not a big fan of Israel as you know. And I asked him to stay out. He stayed out,” Trump said.

“Erdoğan’s a great leader, very strong person, great military … everything I’ve ever asked him for he’s done.” 

The president’s revelation drew immediate pushback from Mark Levin, a conservative Fox News host who is typically a vocal Trump supporter but has come out against the memorandum of understanding the administration signed with Iran.

“Stop giving our best technology away to Islamist nut job Erdogan! Turkey became a NATO member long before Erdoğan seized power,” Levin, a staunch advocate for Israel, posted on social platform X. 

Levin’s criticism spoke to the complicated relationship the U.S. and its allies have had with Turkey throughout Erdoğan’s more than two decades in power. 

Turkey is a strategic and powerful NATO ally. It straddles Europe and the Middle East, borders the Caucasus and Iran, and controls an important maritime route connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Turkey is also recognized for hosting nearly 3 million refugees, the majority having fled the Syrian civil war and threats from the Islamic State over the course of the 2010s.

But Erdoğan is condemned by Europe and pro-democracy groups for exercising an iron fist over his country, threatening allies and cozying up to adversaries. 

Erdoğan has consolidated power in the presidency and culled the opposition, jailing political opponents, journalists, academics, artists or anyone........

© The Hill