Published 10:33 IST, October 17th 2019
Donald Trump writes to Turkey's Erdogan, says, "Don't be a fool!"
President of the United States wrote an exceptional letter written last week to his Turkish counterpart, asking Recep Tayyip Erdogan to not be a "fool."
- World News
- 3 min read
Donald Trump wrote an exceptional letter to his Turkish counterpart, asking him to not be a "fool" over the Syrian incursion. In a letter written last week, the US President put to display his eccentric diplomacy by asking Recep Tayyip Erdogan to not be a "tough guy."
The letter dated October 9 comes three days after a telephonic conversation that was held between the two leaders and the same day when the Turkish incursion into north-east Syria against the Kurds began. Trump, further in the letter boasted of how he has "worked hard" to solve Erdogan's problems and asked the Turkish President to "not let the world down."
Donald Trump even threatened Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "destroying the Turkish economy" saying, "You don't want to be responsible for the slaughtering thousands of people, and I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy--and I will." Even comparing Erdogan to a "devil," Trump said, "It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen."
The letter came out in the public a day after the Turkish President said that he can no longer keep a track of tweets by Donald Trump, referring to the US President's infamous "meltdowns."
Trump's letter read:
US-Turkey relations
Tensions clouded both the countries after Trump unexpectedly pulled out US troops from Syria's northeastern border, leaving their Kurdish allies alone to fight the Turkish military incursion and the ISIS fighters. Trump stated that he imposed 'very extreme and tough' sanctions on Turkey, to pressurize Ankara into stopping their military incursion.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 13 to extend his solidarity and support for Turkey's military operation against Kurds in north-east Syria. Islamabad's backing for Ankara comes in the wake of heavy denunciation coming from the length and breadth of the world against Turkey, including the US, India, the Arab world, EU powers, and others
India, along with the Arab world, European powers, Russia, and the United States stand on the opposite end of the spectrum, against Turkey, on the issue and has called upon Ankara to respect the territorial integrity of Syria.
Meanwhile, even the Arab world, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait have called out Turkey for their military endeavors in war-torn Syria post US' departure. European powers, France and Germany decided to halt their weapon sales to Turkey amid the military confrontation, and along with that, Italy, Netherlands, and Denmark have spoked out against Turkey's operation.
Updated 16:50 IST, October 17th 2019