As Turkey and the United States lurch from crisis to crisis, the latest flashpoint centers around Mazlum Kobane, commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led militia that crushed the Islamic State (IS) in Syria with US backing.

Turkey is furious that a group of congressmen, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have invited Kobane to Washington and are pressing the State Department to issue him a visa. Turkey calls Kobane a "terrorist" and has issued a red alert for his arrest via Interpol. Turkey has also placed a multimillion-lira bounty — with a value that shrinks alongside Turkey’s national currency — on his head. 

More alarmingly for Ankara, President Donald Trump, who has chatted with Kobane by phone in recent days, seems to have embraced the idea. Trump tweeted Oct. 23: “Thank you General Mazloum for your kind words and courage. Please extend my warmest greetings to the Kurdish people. I look forward to seeing you soon.”

Trump was responding to Kobane’s message, which was relayed via Twitter by an SDF spokesman. Kobane thanked the president for his “tireless efforts that stopped the brutal Turkish attack by jihadist groups on our people.” Graham, who has seemingly become the Kurds’ Trump whisperer, apparently told Kobane that the president responds well to flattery.