By Carlotta Gall
Turkey’s president lashed out again at Saudi Arabia over the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, and turned up pressure on the kingdom by invoking the NATO alliance as a means to ensure the perpetrators will be punished.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Friday, reiterated his assertion that the order to kill Mr. Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul came from “the highest levels of the Saudi government.”
Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/world/europe/khashoggi-erdogan-washington-post.html
Pompeo: ‘Unfortunate’ if Turkey decides to leave NATO
by Joel Gehrke
November 01, 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should resist any temptation to leave NATO in pursuit of Russian friendship, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.
“It would be unfortunate for NATO; it’d be unfortunate for the United States, and I think even more unfortunate for the people of Turkey if that were to become the case,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told radio show host Tony Katz.
Read more at https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/pompeo-unfortunate-if-turkey-decides-to-leave-nato
U.S. and Turkey Drop Dueling Sanctions Against Senior Officials
By Eileen Sullivan and Carlotta Gall
The United States and Turkey have lifted sanctions against top officials in each other’s government in a mutual sign on Friday of warming diplomatic relations between the two NATO allies after last month’s release of an American pastor.
The Trump administration had imposed financial sanctions on two Turkish officials in August to punish the country for the two-year detention of the pastor, Andrew Brunson. In turn, Turkey placed its own sanctions on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary.
Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/world/europe/us-turkey-sanctions-pastor.html
Republican lawmaker sees ‘possibility’ of Turkey leaving NATO
by Joel Gehrke
October 31, 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s flirtation with Russia and repeated clashes with Western powers raises a real “possibility” that he leads his country out of NATO, according to a senior House Republican.
“I don’t think they’ll leave NATO,” House Foreign Affairs Committee member Ted Yoho, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner. “I think it’s a possibility they could, but I don’t think they will.”
But even the possibility of Turkey leaving speaks to the slide in U.S.-Turkey relations in recent years. Erdogan’s authoritarian turn, combined with disagreements about the plan to counter the Islamic State in Syria, have put historic strains on the partnership.
Read more at https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/key-lawmaker-sees-possibility-of-turkey-leaving-nato
