Turkey May Go the Way of Venezuela

^Excerpt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan admires a sword presented to him by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during his visit to Caracas in December 2018.

Mr. Erdoğan is a dictator with strange ideas, wild ambitions and no restraints. The invasion of Syria has made a domestic and regional tragedy the most likely outcome.

How can the outside world prevent catastrophe? By terminating its disgraceful indulgence of Mr. Erdoğan. Donald Trump is only the latest politician to fall for his mysterious charms— George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, among others, preceded him. Mr. Erdoğan deserves punishment, not rewards, for his outrageous behavior. His heading a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member country should raise, not lower, the bar.

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Daniel Pipes is president of the Middle East Forum.

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Turkey and Turks US Policy

Daniel Pipes

Daniel Pipes, a historian, founded the Middle East Forum in 1994 and led it until 2025. He taught at the University of Chicago, Harvard, Pepperdine, and the U.S. Naval War College. He served in five U.S. administrations, received two presidential appointments, and testified before many congressional committees. The author of 18 books on the Middle East, Islam, and other topics, his most recent is Israel Victory: How Zionists Win Acceptance and Palestinians Get Liberated (2024). Mr. Pipes’ work has been translated into 39 languages. DanielPipes.org contains an archive of his writings and media appearances; he tweets at @DanielPipes. He received both his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard.