I've met a couple of Turks in my lifetime and talked with them at length. First, you gotta see that they are a Muslim country which allows Christian missionaries. If you look at the countries in that region, that makes them mightily progressive. They are putting the man on house arrest. I think time has to pass before Erdogan would ever release him. Erdogan has basically announced that the guy is guilty and releasing him would be a loss of face. Trump is a wildcard which could make it happen.
The two Muslim countries with the longest and most friendly relations are Morocco and Turkey. (Formerly, the Ottoman empire.) Morocco was the first country to recognize our independence. We have also had friendly relations with Egypt for a time dating back to the post-civil war. The other Muslim countries are not traditional friends.
Erdogan has far more dictatorial powers than most NATO members like. The coup - fake or not - just increased his power even more and allowed him to jail the opposition.
I've met Pakistani Muslims and when probed, they definitely aren't friendly to the U.S. - even when they are "migrating" here. Turks are different in my opinion. They don't have an ingrained animus toward the U.S. and Christians like Muslims in other countries.
Not really trying to disagree - just giving a different perspective.
Marty
