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Are Ankara, Washington on collision course in Syria?

The tension between Turkey and the United States is threatening to sharply escalate with any missteps in the dance between Turkey's anti-Kurdish objectives and Washington's support for Syrian Kurdish groups.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. September 20, 2016.   REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz - RTSONR7

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's supporters were awed once again by his performance at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. He spoke at the summit about Syrian refugees and touched upon nearly every issue on in his agenda, as if he was addressing an admiring domestic audience in Turkey.

While he was delivering his speech, his fans flooded social media with claims that he taught the world a lesson. The following day, pro-government media outlets hailed his speech with glowing headlines like “Turkish Day at the UN,” “The World is Bigger than Five” and “Erdogan was very outspoken, lashed out at the whole world.”

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