THE presidential palace in Ankara is a 1,150-room modern fortress of stone pillars and sheet glass, completed for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2015 at an official cost of $615m. For Mr Erdogan’s supporters, it is an emblem of Turkey’s energy and will. For his opponents it represents the president’s autocratic instincts and lust for power. During the attempted coup of July 15th, mutinous fighter pilots dropped bombs near the complex. On August 24th, Joe Biden, America’s vice president, went there to apologise to Mr Erdogan for America’s failure to show more solidarity with Turkey in the coup’s aftermath.
Mr Biden did his best to mend fences. He compared the failed coup attempt to the September 11th attacks in America, expressed regret for not coming earlier, and paid his respects to the coup victims. Yet Mr Erdogan seemed unimpressed. Sitting alongside Mr Biden, looking less like an old friend than an estranged relative, the Turkish leader complained that Fethullah Gulen, the American-based Muslim cleric who his government claims masterminded the plot, was still free. “Under Turkey’s extradition agreement with the United States, such...Continue reading
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