Tom O'Connor
As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape Washington's foreign policy in the Middle East, the U.S. leader has increasingly looked to the head of a longtime ally who has emerged as one of the most influential voices in the region—and beyond.
Over the past week alone, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proved himself a crucial player on several geopolitical fronts. Days after overseeing an end to a four-decade insurgency waged by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Erdogan was credited by Trump in convincing him to lift sanctions on Syria and even meet the country's rebel-turned-interim leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, during a high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia, the first foreign trip of Trump's second presidency.
Turkey, officially known as Türkiye, went on to host high-stakes nuclear talks between Europe and Iran, along with elusive wartime discussions between Russia and Ukraine. The engagements came as Trump sought to lead diplomatic efforts on both issues and now finds himself aligning with the one leader seemingly capable of helping to advance his vision.
"Mr. Trump calls him a friend," Cagri Erhan, Erdogan's chief adviser and member of the Turkish presidency's security and foreign policy council, told Newsweek. "And he wants him to be a key actor, both on the regional and global level, to cooperate with the United States under the Trump administration."
"And I think both countries can mutually benefit in this new era," Erhan said.
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