What would President Trump ask from Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan if he were allowed to ask for one thing only? An American official talking to a group of Turks on condition of anonymity recently asked that rhetorical question and continued without waiting for the Turks to answer: it would be to cancel the Russian S-400 air defense missiles.
All other problems on the agenda would be secondary in American eyes today: from the serious discrepancy in Syria to the sanctions on Iran, from the U.S.-resident Islamist preacher accused of masterminding a coup attempt in Turkey to the release of American employees and citizens from Turkish jails.
The U.S. escalates pressure on its NATO ally Turkey to cancel the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missiles amid diplomatic traffic over the cooperation against terrorism in Syria, which might further delay the American troops’ withdrawal. The Donald Trump administration threatens Tayyip Erdoğan’s…