“Erdogan not only banks on his personal rapport with Trump to evade congressional pressure and minimize bilateral tensions. He is also emboldened by an American president who appears to share his contempt for media, dissent and rule of law.”

“If Congress wants to sanction Turkey, then it needs to sanction Turkey in the right ways and with an eye towards getting results — not just [doing] things that will piss them off.”

“[Trump’s] embrace [of Erdogan] and that willingness to ignore authoritarian repression and human rights abuses inside Turkey does not extend beyond the White House [and] many here in Washington have deep concerns with those issues.”