US President Donald Trump warned his counterpart Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an extraordinary letter sent to him after his decision to invade Syria. President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling on him to “work out a good deal!” and warning him not to be a “tough guy” or “fool”.
The letter by US President comes after Turkey launched its invasion into northeastern Syria. Three days after approving Turkish invasion on Kurdish-dominated region by pulling US troops, Trump told the Turkish president he would wreck Ankara’s economy if the invasion went too far.
“Let’s work out a good deal,” Trump wrote in the letter dated October 9, whose authenticity was confirmed to AFP by the White House.
In his unique approach to diplomacy, Trump’s issued a warning that he could destroy Turkey’s economy if the situation in Syria is not contained and resolved in a humane way.
“You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy — and I will.”
“History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way,” Trump said. “It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen.”
The US leader told Erdogan a “great deal” was possible if he negotiated with the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, whom Turkey has labelled a “terrorist” for his ties to the Kurdish PKK militants in Turkey.
“Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool,” he finished adding, “I will call you later.”
On October 9th, Turkey President Erdogan launched a Turkish military offensive into Syria, claiming it wanted to “neutralize terror threats” and establish a “safe zone”. The Turkish forces last Wednesday carried out airstrikes and later announced ground troops had invaded northeastern Syria.
The US President Donald Trump had decided to pull out American forces from northern Syria, allowing Turkey to proceed with a military operation in the region. The decision had received huge criticism from across the globe. Since then, Trump has been trying to contain the damage from his last week’s sudden decision.
