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Erdogan Is No Friend to America
(Wall Street Journal) Daniel Pipes - President Erdogan's invasion of Syria found broad support within Turkey. Yet the invasion damages Turkey internationally: Western and Arab governments have condemned the military operation, as have the Russian, Iranian, Indian and Chinese governments. Erdogan wrongly assumes that the cunning and aggression that brought him political success internally will also work internationally. This explains his unleashing thugs on the streets of Washington, abducting Turkish citizens accused of coup plotting from multiple countries, attempting to smuggle dual-use materials to Gaza, illegally drilling for natural gas in Cypriot waters, and shooting down a Russian jet fighter, among other bellicose actions. Europeans seethe when Erdogan threatens to send 3.6 million displaced Syrians their way. Israelis despise him for a vitriolic anti-Zionism that compares them to Nazis. Egypt's president hates Erdogan's backing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdogan has consolidated power over Turkey's institutions: the military, the intelligence services, the police, the judiciary, the banks, the media, the election board, the mosques and the educational system. He has supported the private security company Sadat, which some analysts consider a "private" army. Academics who signed a 2016 petition critical of Erdogan's policies toward the Kurds have lost their jobs, faced criminal charges and even been jailed. The 1,150-room palace he had built symbolizes his grandiosity and ambition. In short, Erdogan is a dictator with strange ideas, wild ambitions and no restraints. The writer is president of the Middle East Forum.