Is Ankara waking up to what Trump really represents?
Having vilified President Obama, President Erdogan and his supporters are realizing that ties under Trump may not turn out to be what they hope.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inner circle and political supporters in the media continue to vent their anger at former President Barack Obama with outlandishly exaggerated claims, while expressing hope that Turkish-US ties will be much better under President Donald Trump.
Erdogan’s foreign policy adviser Saadet Oruc, a former journalist who also writes a column in the pro-government daily Star, for example, points out that although Obama raised great expectations initially, he ended up as “one of the most unsuccessful US presidents ever.”
The Obama administration’s alleged refusal to circumvent legal restrictions and send Fethullah Gulen — the self-exiled Islamic cleric residing in Pennsylvania — packing to Turkey to answer charges that he masterminded the July 15 coup attempt, and its refusal to sever its ties with Syrian Kurdish groups Ankara considers to be terrorist organizations are the main reasons for this anger.
But signs are already emerging that the hopes invested in Trump may have also been exaggerated. Prior to departing on a three-nation tour of Africa over the weekend, Erdogan — who has signaled his keenness to work with Trump — revealed for the first time that serious doubts may be creeping into his thinking about the new US administration.
