For all of Washington’s diplomatic deftness during the crisis, however, the Obama administration has been far too solicitous of Erdogan and his increasingly authoritarian ways over the past five years. Its reasoning is based on the flawed assumption that being nice will ensure cooperation from this strategic ally that straddles Europe and the greater Middle East.

Such a calculus is just another example of Washington choosing realism over idealism in foreign affairs. In this case, it would be far better for the US to err on the side of idealism. …

When President Obama took office in January 2009, he was determined to improve US-Turkey relations after six years of tension over the American invasion of Iraq, which borders Turkey. Mr. Obama put Turkey on the itinerary for his first overseas visit that April, and worked hard to give meaning to the “model partnership.” …

Mostly, the White House, which tightly controls Turkish policy, has been silent. The Obama administration has given the Turkish government a pass on its intimidation of the press and efforts to clamp down on freedom of expression, its legislative highhandedness and use of machinery of the state to strike fear in the hearts of businesspeople who disagree with the government, and the not-so-subtle effort to write a constitution that serves Erdogan’s ambition to move from the premiership to a newly powerful presidency – in contrast to the current relatively weak configuration.