President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has embraced — quite literally — a 7-year-old Syrian girl from Aleppo, famous for her Twitter messages describing life in a war zone. – New York Times
Turkish courts last week charged U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson with “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” transferring him to a high-security prison after two months in solitary confinement in a detention center. –Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Michael Rubin writes: If Erdogan seeks to mobilize—perhaps utilizing not only the emergency powers he claimed in the wake of the coup but also war powers derived from Turkey’s involvement in Syria and Iraq—he can arrest anyone and seize anything he desires. –AEI Ideas
Editorial: Since assuming the nominally ceremonial position of president in 2014, Turkish ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan has aspired to endow it with far-reaching powers, replacing the country’s parliamentary system with something more like what Vladimir Putin has established in Russia. –Washington Post