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Why Ankara’s honeymoon with Trump may be short-lived

By blasting the Obama administration over Gulen and the Syrian Kurds, the Turkish government is signaling to the incoming Trump administration its demands for improved ties.
A man walks past the Trump Towers building in Istanbul on July 30, 2015. US billionaire Donald Trump handily leads all fellow Republicans in the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats trump him in head-to-head matchups, a poll said July 30. AFP PHOTO/ OZAN KOSE        (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey has increased pressure on Washington in recent weeks, as President-elect Donald Trump has been preparing to be sworn in, by openly renouncing the outgoing Obama administration and signaling to the new administration what its conditions for improved ties with the United States will be.

Ankara clearly expects the Trump administration to place the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries on a smoother trajectory. Remarks by Rex Tillerson and James Mattis — Trump's choices for secretary of state and secretary of defense, respectively — during their congressional hearings have also emboldened Ankara, as both men underlined the need for better ties with Turkey.

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