Pope Leo XIV’s Turkey Visit Masks Strategic Challenges Amid Global Power Plays

Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural foreign visit to Turkey is being portrayed as a bridge-builder between faiths and cultures. But beneath the surface lies a tangled web of political intrigue and strategic ambiguity that demands scrutiny from an America First perspective focused on national sovereignty and global stability. Landing first in Ankara for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—a leader whose grip on power has tightened amid crackdowns on opposition—Leo steps into a nation straddling its role as NATO’s second-largest military force while wrestling with domestic unrest and economic turmoil. Can Washington afford to overlook Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies just because Turkey...