Stagnation in Turkish foreign policy

Almost three weeks after Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said he was going to meet U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to the U.S. on May 16-17, the White House officially confirmed on May 10 that the meeting will take place on May 16.

The announcement came after a high-ranking delegation consisting of Turkey's chief of general staff, intelligence chief, and Erdoğan's security and foreign policy advisers carried out week-long contacts in Washington.

Despite all efforts of this Turkish team, on top of numerous public and diplomatic statements from Ankara, Trump has approved a Pentagon plan to step up the direct flow of arms to the People's Protection Units (YPG), which the U.S. military will partner with in taking the Syria town of Raqqa from the occupation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or DAESH. 

Turkey is particularly concerned because the YPG is the militia of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody armed campaign against Ankara for the past three decades. 

Responding to Trump's approval, Erdoğan reiterated on May 10 that it was wrong to act together with one terrorist group (the YPG) against another (ISIL). He vowed to try to convince Trump on May 16 to revise his decision.

Convincing Trump to revise a decision? The same Trump who fired the FBI chief with a Twitter message? On a military issue like defeating ISIL, which is in the interest of the world?

Erdoğan is right in principle when he says it is wrong to fight one terror group with the help of another, but there are other realities of power politics that must be considered. ISIL is a terrible terrorist organization designated as...