Name:   Casey - Subject:   Duterte Date:   5/1/2017 10:22:53 PM

From what I have read, Trump's friendship with Erdogan has been budding for some time, dating back to at least last summer.  His call to Erdogan congratulating him on the controversial narrowly passed referendum, which granted Ergodon sweeping new powers, was unusual to me.  With international monitors citing voting irregularities, Trumps' congratulatory message strikes a starkly different tone from a statement issued by the US State Department, which urged Ergodon to respect his citizens' fundamental rights and noted the report's finding of irregularities on voting day and an uneven playing field during the campaign period.  Just wondering what the thinking was?