Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS [Daesh]… and he is a man who can do it," announcing his trust in Erdoğan in Syria following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region. However, the same Trump, a few days later, sent a contrary and controversial tweet regarding Turkey's position in war-torn Syria and confused everyone.
"Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," President Trump said, referring to the PKK-linked organizations in Syria, namely the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Trump's U-turn naturally disturbed the Turkish public as thousands of Turkish and Kurdish civilians in Turkey have already been the victims of Daesh and PKK terrorism.
In Turkish media, Trump immediately came under fire for resuming former President Barack Obama's failed policies by backing the bloodthirsty members of PKK elements in Syria.
Trump's using the term "Kurds" while defining the PKK and YPG/PYD terrorists also sparked a harsh reaction in Turkey and among its 80 million people, since these notorious groups do not represent any ethnic civilian community, but consist of hit men, foreign fighters, kidnapped children or local extremists. In addition, the PKK and its Syrian wings only ideologically differ from the bloody Daesh.
It needs to be noted here that the majority of Kurdish people in Turkey voted for Erdoğan since he is the first leader to have taken many brave steps and initiatives for the sake of Kurdish rights in modern Turkish history. Struggling against the rooted nationalist tradition in the country, Erdoğan, for example, initiated the "reconciliation process" – an unprecedented democratic move that aimed to put an end to the discrepancy between Turks and Kurds, and was therefore targeted by the PKK.
President Trump must be aware that the Marxist PKK and its Syrian affiliates, which helped Daesh terrorists escape from Raqqa or often cozy up with Moscow or Tehran are not trustworthy partners in Syria. Contrary, Turkey, its traditional NATO ally, remains as the most coherent and credible actor in the region.
Nevertheless, it is a fact that Trump's room for maneuvering is limited in the U.S., and thus he sometimes makes overtures to the globalists in order to save himself from the Democrats' opposition propaganda. For this purpose, he often jumps onto the bandwagon of anti-Erdoğan circles and attempts to "demonize" the Turkish leader and Turkey.
According to recent polls, anti-American sentiment has reached 80 percent in Turkey, yet President Erdoğan is a veteran leader who can manage to go easy and follow Turkey's multidimensional foreign policy.
In addition, Erdoğan has kept the promises he gave during the Andrew Brunson crisis, providing a helpful argument for President Trump in the last midterm elections. Erdoğan doesn't get manipulated by the globalists, who try to drive Trump to the wall and demonize him, and is able to balance the relationship between Turkey and the United States.
It is high time for Trump to stop pushing his luck in foreign policy and be attentive when choosing his words for his most credible partner: Erdoğan and Turkey. He also needs to use U.S. economic power as a threat, not against the Turkish economy, that negatively affects the U.S. market, but against the real foes of the United States.
Mr. President! We understand you, but you should understand us too
