"Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council says we are seeing “an effort by Erdogan to seize the opportunity improve his country's strategic position vis-à-vis Washington, and to do so at Saudi Arabia's expense.” Erdogan knows he can’t rupture the U.S.-Saudi relationship but he can teach Riyadh a lesson, diminish its influence in the region, and leverage the tragedy to draw closer to Washington to get its support for needed International Monetary Fund loans.: