Pleasantries aside, can Trump deliver what Erdogan wants?
Turkey expects President Donald Trump to help it avoid US sanctions over the S-400 affair, but many in Turkey question whether Trump has that power.
The results of the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Osaka have left the Turkish side in a triumphant mood, having produced much more than Ankara expected.
Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, which has resulted in a crisis between the two allies, had been billed from the start as a priority agenda item for the talks.
During the talks, Trump not only went out of his way to support the Turkish argument, but also showered Erdogan with praise, calling him "a friend" whom he is "very close to in many respects."
Overjoyed members of Erdogan’s team and his supporters in the press see the results of the Osaka talks as a major blow to what they consider to be the “anti-Erdogan American deep state.”
