Following the Turkish referendum to basically disable the democracy of the troubled nation by granting permanent authoritarian powers to their president, US President Donald Trump chose to call his Turkish counterpart, president Recep Tayyip Erogan, to congratulate him on his victory.
Heads of state from other countries showed better restraint. Congratulations were received from a few other countries like Qatar, Guinea, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, but EU and NATO members were notably absent from the short list.
International observers have called the procedures of the referendum into question. The vote was very close, despite alleged voter fraud enabled by shenanigans introduced in the last minute, wide-spread suppression of information and outright silencing of opponents in the debate leading up to the vote. In Turkey, protesters are taking to the streets, going as far as accusing president Erdogan for being a thief and a murderer.
At that point, Donald Trump picked up the phone and offered Erdogan his congratulations. Not a good call. One can't help but wonder whether Donald Trump considers himself to be a kindred spirit to Erdogan, like he has expressed his admiration for president Putin of Russia. It would certainly make Trump's life easier if he, just like Erdogan, could arrest bothersome journalists and political opponents and use force to silence protests against him.
If Trump would get things his way, the US could be in for a presidential power grab like the one happening in Turkey right now. Fortunately, lots of checks and balances were put in place to prevent that, and at least some of them are still working. Of particular importance right now is the continued existence of a free press.
