Ankara on tenterhooks over Trump’s cabinet announcements

US president-elect Donald Trump's recent announcements about who he plans to appoint to key posts in his administration when he takes office in January have caused jitters in Ankara and dashed hopes that Turkish interests would be well served by his return to the White House.

The hope now is that Trump's ministers and other top officials in the areas of foreign policy and security will soften their stance on Ankara once in office, for, as Ragip Soylu, the Turkey bureau chief for Middle East Eye, notes in comments to Kathimerini, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown."

Soylu believes that ties will depend on the personal relationship between Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and if this is restored, Turkish-US relations will also improve. "It is expected that, in this context, even individuals who have taken a hard line against Turkey will adapt....