A statement attributed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan goes like this: “Democracy is like a bus, when you arrive at your destination, you step off.” We know that Erdogan long ago stepped away from democratic norms, particularly after the failed coup of July 2016, which accelerated domestic repression and Ankara’s pivot to the East. Instead of increasing the pressure to shift Erdogan off this path, successive U.S. administrations have presented, at best, lukewarm responses that have only enabled the authoritarian and anti-American behavior of the Turkish government.
Turkey has been given repeated off-ramps which could be beneficial to Ankara, only to continue with activities that directly endanger the national security interests of the United States and our allies.
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