The media army, handpicked by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and taken to Washington, did its job well. Millions of TV viewers and newspaper readers in Turkey came under a massive image bombardment starting with the Obama-Erdogan meeting at the White House on May 16.

In fact, the assault had started before Erdogan reached Washington. For days, we read embellished reports about Blair House, right opposite the White House and reserved for the highest-level guests, to show how Erdogan was getting special attention.

Erdogan’s visit was long awaited. The two car bombs that went off at Reyhanli on May 11 had given the impression that violence in Syria had now been exported to Turkey and assured Syria the top slot on the Obama-Erdogan meeting agenda.

That Turkey and Erdogan had grievances against the United States for not doing all it could to support the Syrian opposition was well known, hence the expectation for Erdogan to press Obama for a more proactive Syria policy. Changing US policy gained new urgency after the Reyhanli bombs because the prolongation of Assad’s tenure is beginning to be a serious risk to Turkey’s stability.