Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest attempt to persuade the Trump administration to provide Ankara with state-of-the-art F-35 stealth warplanes is just the latest example of the Turkish leader’s willingness to indulge in double-dealing as part of his long-running campaign to establish Turkey as a dominant force in the Middle East.
Erdogan’s courtship of US President Donald Trump has so far succeeded to the extent that the American leader has publicly described Turkey as being “a tremendous ally for me” and also saying that he regards Erdogan as a personal friend.
