• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Trump Ignores Controversy to Host Turkey’s President Erdogan

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
11/13/19
in National
Erdogan Threatens to Open Europe Gates for Refugees

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, 2014. Photo: AFP, Adem Altan

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

President Donald Trump is leaping from the frying pan of impeachment into the fire of foreign policy controversy as he is going to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Wednesday.

On the day that the impeachment process shifts to the dramatic phase of public hearings in Congress, Trump’s meeting and joint press conference with Erdogan at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue promises extra fireworks.

Trump and Erdogan have good chemistry and the U.S. president often seems to get along better with foreign strongmen than traditional U.S. allies in places such as Western Europe or Canada.

That relationship, however, is under strain following NATO member Turkey’s October offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Trump ordered U.S. troops in the border area to withdraw ahead of the Turkish invasion, while exhorting Erdoganin an extraordinarily undiplomatic letter to hold his military back.

“Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Trump wrote in the letter, which was reportedly thrown by Erdogan into the trash.

Despite the letter, Trump’s withdrawal of the U.S. soldiers effectively gave Turkey a green light.

This outraged many in the president’s own Republican party, which saw the move as an abandonment of the Kurds and a dramatic boon for Russian ambitions in Syria.

“Given this situation, we believe that now is a particularly inappropriate time for President Erdogan to visit the United States, and we urge you to rescind this invitation,” a bipartisan group of legislators wrote to Trump last week in a letter made public Monday.

Separately, the U.S. government is furious at Erdogan for agreeing to buy the Russian S-400 missile system — a no-no for a NATO member.

Washington has excluded Turkey from the F-35 stealth warplane program over the purchase, creating even more tension in the troubled Western alliance.

Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said Sunday that economic sanctions could also be imposed over the S-400.

Turkey and @NBA update: While the NBA cozies up to China, the Boston Celtics' @EnesKanter takes his personal fight against Turkey's Erdogan regime to Congress today. 230pm press conf to intro a Senate bill condemning the Turkish government for targeting political rivals. https://t.co/248yJ8GoNR

— Kevin Baron ???????? ???? (@DefenseBaron) November 12, 2019

A day before Erdogan’s White House visit, Turkish NBA player Enes Kanter, visited Congress to advocate for a bill that would condemn Turkish authorities for targeting political rivals.

“The U.S. government should make it clear that U.S. support to its ally Turkey isn’t unconditional. Turkey’s gross abuse of human rights at home is unbefitting for an ally. President Trump should know that it is difficult to justify an alliance with a country with a dismal human rights record and he should press the Turkish president to stop cracking down the opposition,” Kanter told The Globe Post commenting on the upcoming White House meeting.

Kanter is regarded by the Turkish government as a criminal because of his support for U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of orchestrating a coup in 2016. Gulen denies any involvement.

Kanter’s support for Gulen has prompted Turkish authorities to seek an Interpol “red notice” or arrest warrant for him, meaning he could in theory be detained if he leaves the United States.

Turkish television has also refused to broadcast NBA games involving Kanter.

‘Genocide’

The get-together comes with Trump’s presidency facing deep peril from impeachment in Congress. The first public hearing of witnesses testifying that Trump abused his office in dealings with Ukraine starts just two hours before Erdogan’s midday arrival.

This leaves Trump weakened at a time when he needs to avoid antagonizing the Republicans who will be voting on his fate.

Those legislators have little love for Erdogan and the feeling is likely mutual.

The House of Representatives showed its displeasure in October by voting to recognize the mass destruction of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Modern-day Turkey continues to deny the accusation of genocide, saying Armenians were merely among the many other victims of World War I. The vote infuriated Erdogan.

If there is any political positive for Trump from the tricky Erdogan meeting, it will be the chance at least to distract public attention from the simultaneous impeachment hearing.

Following three hours of meetings and lunch, the Turkish leader and Trump will stage a joint press conference at 3:10 pm (2010 GMT).

The president of Turkey has done nothing to warrant an invitation to the White House. We should be reducing our reliance on a Turkey that is an ally in name only, wait out Erdogan, and signal to Turks that the benefits of close ties with the US require acting like an ally.

— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) November 13, 2019

Protesters Beaten Up

The State Department defended the invitation to Erdogan, saying the complex issues make face-to-face talks important.

“Don’t look at these things as rewards, they are the execution of diplomacy,” an official said.

But there will be tension to spare even beyond the Syrian Kurds and the S-400s.

Washington is angry over the long-term detention of Turkish citizens working for U.S. consulates, while Ankara continues to push hard for the extradition of the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan claims engineered a failed 2016 coup.

Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney raised another point of contention: the ugly scenes during Erdogan’s last Washington visit, in 2017, when his bodyguards beat up protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence.

“The Erdogan regime’s use of violence against civilians anywhere is inhumane, uncivilized, and unacceptable,” she wrote in a letter demanding that the State Department bar any of the “thugs” involved from returning.

NATO Slams Turkey Over Syria Operation, But No Punishment

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

The EU's corruption watchdog has been investigating Frontex.
Refugees

EU’s Frontex Says ‘No Evidence’ of Illegal Migrant Pushbacks

by Staff Writer
January 21, 2021
President Donald Trump sits alongside Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, during a meeting on the opioid epidemic in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on June 12, 2019.
Opinion

Queen Rat Conway Swims for Safe Harbor: Too Little Too Late?

by Stephen J. Lyons
January 20, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden at a COVID-19 tribute in DC on Tuesday.
National

In Washington, Biden Leads Tribute to 400,000 Covid Dead

by Staff Writer
January 19, 2021
Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020
Featured

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

by Lori Lennon
January 20, 2021
The filing was submitted by Justice Department lawyers on Thursday, January 14.
National

US Rioters Sought to ‘Capture and Assassinate’ Lawmakers at Capitol: Prosecutors

by Staff Writer
January 15, 2021
Biden proposes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Business

Biden Unveils $1.9 Tn Economic Plan as US Recovery Buckles

by Staff Writer
January 14, 2021
Next Post
Right-wing Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president following a coup that ousted Evo Morales

Bolivian Power Vacuum Filled, But Unrest Continues

People take to the streets of Santa Cruz to celebrate the resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales on November 10 after weeks of protests

Why Bolivian President Evo Morales’ Resignation Was Not a Coup

Recommended

President Joe Biden.

Enough Covid Vaccine for 300 Mn Americans by End of Summer/Early Fall: Biden

January 26, 2021
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

UK Passes 100,000 Covid Deaths as European States Eye Tighter Borders

January 26, 2021
Extreme weather led to floods in Indonesia in 2018.

480,000 Killed by Extreme Weather This Century: Analysis

January 25, 2021
Russian police arresting protesters in Moscow as they demonstrate in support of Alexey Navalny.

Russia Police Violence in Spotlight After 3,500 Protesters Detained

January 24, 2021
A woman leaves after receiving the Covid-19 shot at the Al-Abbas Islamic Centre, which has been converted into a temporary vaccination center in Birmingham.

UK Imams Mobilize to Counter Covid Vaccine Disinformation

January 22, 2021
The EU's corruption watchdog has been investigating Frontex.

EU’s Frontex Says ‘No Evidence’ of Illegal Migrant Pushbacks

January 21, 2021

Opinion

President Donald Trump sits alongside Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, during a meeting on the opioid epidemic in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on June 12, 2019.

Queen Rat Conway Swims for Safe Harbor: Too Little Too Late?

January 20, 2021
Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

January 20, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

January 8, 2021
Volunteers are given the Moderna vaccine on August 5, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan.

Who’s First-in-Line for the Vaccine? A Classic Problem in Medical Ethics

December 30, 2020
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post