Turkish President Erdogan Returns Trump’s Threatening Letter

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the White House to meet President Donald Trump on Wednesday and held a joint press conference.

Erdogan told reporters that he had returned the October 9 letter written to him by Trump. Erdogan said that he had never thrown Trump’s October 9 letter to him in the trash.

Erdogan’s military forces attacked the Kurds in northern Syria last month after Trump withdrew the U.S. troops from Syria. This was seen as an act of defiance by Erdogan as Trump had in his October 9 letter told Erdogan to hold off on attacking the Kurds after the U.S. troops left Syria.

Turkey considers the Kurds to be terrorists colluding with separatists who want to secede from Turkey. Turkey wants to drive out the Kurds from northern Syria and resettle a million Syrian refugees in their stead.

Trump was censured by Congressmen from both parties for betraying the Kurds after he ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from Syria.

Trump’s October 9 letter to Erdogan was lampooned on social media for its childish language and tone.

Article by Rajeet Guha