Erdogan Wins Friends at Home, but Risks Standoff With U.S.



Semih Idiz, Al-Monitor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has achieved one of his main goals by ordering the Olive Branch operation against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin. He has won the support of most if not all Turks, who tend to close their ranks at such times.Journalist Fehmi Koru, who was once close to Erdogan, recalled in a recent article how left-leaning Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit had called snap elections after ordering the military to go to Cyprus in 1974, and won in a landslide. Koru also recalled, however, that Winston Churchill had lost the first elections after World War... Read More