President Donald Trump wasn’t wrong in May when he lauded Turkey as a “pillar in the Cold War against Communism” and “a bastion against Soviet expansion.” In a previous era, when land invasions were the great strategic worry, Turkey’s location — right between Eastern Europe and the Middle East — made its Incirlik Air Base an indispensable asset for the U.S. military. The nation also had a strong military of its own and an ideological willingness to stand up for Western liberal values, virtually forcing the U.S. to rely on it as a security partner despite periodic questions about democracy, …