“To many Turkish citizens, such Western efforts to shore up ties with a loathed Turkish autocrat—while trumpeting the cause of democracy in Ukraine, no less—only serve to reaffirm some of the key reasons why they distrust the West’s intentions.”

“Right now NATO is more united than ever. A veto would damage the relationship so much, Erdogan will not go that far… He wants US attention so he can show his domestic audience that he can threaten and get something done with it.”

“The move is likely to negate the goodwill that Ankara has recently earned in Washington by selling drones to Ukraine… It will be difficult for Congress to allow the export of F-16s to Turkey after Erdogan’s remarks.”

“Sputnik has positioned itself so well. When they criticise Nato and the US, they have these messages that are targeting and exploiting mistrust between the different factions.”

“Authoritarian governments do not listen to public opinion. They seek to manipulate and mold it according to their interests. Erdogan never pays attention to public opinion in Turkey unless it directly serves his own political ends.”

“I think it’s quite revealing that such a large proportion of the Turkish public… that about half of them see the U.S. and NATO as the main culprit here, as being responsible for the war.”

“There is a softening in Congress toward Turkey because of Ukraine and Afghanistan, but I am not sure they are on board with any military sales just yet.”

“[The Gezi trial convictions are] basically President Erdoğan taking vengeance on these 17 people who are defendants…for the massive, spontaneous, and nationwide protests that we call the Gezi protests against his government.”

“[The U.S. statement on Kavala’s conviction was] promising in that it shows that the Biden administration has not entirely muted its criticism of blatant human rights violations in Turkey.”

“On the human rights issues, I think Erdogan has been getting a free pass from the Biden administration for a very long time.”