Democracy and Islam are simply not compatible. Therefore it is in the interest of the western world and the ruled muslims to look for other systems that provide a possible maximum of freedom and security. Since Turkey has such a system, it is a comparatively stable entity that tries to stay close to the west.
As I already said - a positive example for the rest of the ME.
If Realpolitik means that Christians and Jews who live in Muslim “democracies” have to live in fear of their lives, that’s not good enough. You want Realpolitik? Switch our military facilities to any one of the Baltic States (Christian countries will be more reliable allies in the protracted war against Islamofascistic terrorism than Muslim Turkey). The Turks are duplicitous allies at best - and as Muslims, they always have been and always will be dupicitous. In WWII, they were supposedly “neutral” but were supplying Hitler’s war machine with chromium. I don’t trust them and would be very happy if we cut off our dealings with them.