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Bloomberg

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he personally returned a letter that US President Donald Trump sent him last month, warning him against an offensive in northern Syrian before Turkey began its incursion.
Trump’s letter, dated October 9, cautioned Erdogan not to be a “tough guy” or a “fool”.
Erdogan said in a joint news conference with Trump that he returned the letter during a meeting at the White House earlier on Wednesday. Trump didn’t respond at the news conference.
“History will look upon you favourably if you get this done the right and humane way,” Trump wrote in the letter.
“It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen.”
Turkey began its offensive later that week, pushing US-allied Kurdish forces out of a region close to Turkey’s border after Trump ordered American forces to withdraw.
US lawmakers in both parties criticised Trump’s decision, saying it amounted to a green-light for the Turkish offensive.




American lawmakers have also criticised Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian domestic politics. The House voted last week by an overwhelming margin to describe the early-20th-century massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces as a “genocide”, angering Erdogan, who considered cancelling his visit in response.
Initial reports said that Erdogan not only ignored Trump’s letter but threw it in a rubbish bin.
Erdogan’s return of the letter wasn’t the only uncomfortable moment the Turkish president created for Trump on Wednesday.
At the outset of the news conference, Erdogan delivered a more than 10-minute long monologue, a few minutes longer than Trump’s opening remarks, while the US president fidgeted at his lectern.

Erdogan complained about Kurdish forces in Syria allied with the US that he considers “terrorists” as well as a Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan blames for fomenting a 2016 coup.
The US has refused to extradite Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Erdogan also again criticised the House resolution on the Armenian massacre.
Later in the news conference, Erdogan called on a Turkish reporter who asked Trump to explain why he had invited a Kurdish military leader to the White House, calling the person a “terrorist”.
Trump responded that the US was working closely with both the Kurds and the Turks, adding: “You sure you’re a reporter and you don’t work for Turkey with that question?”
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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Donald Trump

Turkey’s president returns Trump’s threatening ‘don’t be a fool’ letter

US President Donald Trump chats with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Colonnade before a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Photo: AFP

This image widely distributed on Social Media on October 16, 2019 in Washington DC shows the letter sent on October 9 by Us President Donald Trump to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning of economic sanctions after the Turkish intervention in Northern Syria. The White House confirmed the authenticity of the letter. (Photo by - / Social Media / AFP)

US President Donald Trump and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the East Room of the White House. Photo: AP

Turkish President Erdogan discusses ongoing Syria offensive with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Handout via dpa

A young Kurdish woman (3-L) mourns her brother, reportedly killed a day earlier when when a Turkish military vehicle ran him over during a joint patrol with Russian forces, near the town of Al-Muabbadah in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province on the border with Turkey, on November 9, 2019. Behind the women, US military vehicles, part of a joint convoy with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) patrol in the same area. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

US halts F-35 fighter jet programme with Turkey over its plan to buy Russian S-400 missile system

The US had agreed to sell 100 of its latest, fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Turkey, initially planning to deliver the two aircraft to Turkey in June. File photo: Reuters

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on August 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

Painting of Turkey’s President Erdogan with a banana up his buttocks sparks anger at German art fair

Baumgaertel complained after his artwork titled 'Turkish dictator' was removed from his gallery at the art Karlsruhe fair. Photo: Thomas Baumgaertel/Twitter

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Despite tensions on policy issues, Donald Trump gave a warm welcome to Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.



Turkey’s president returns Trump’s threatening ‘don’t be a fool’ letter

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Despite tensions on policy issues, Donald Trump gave a warm welcome to Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.

Despite tensions on policy issues, Donald Trump gave a warm welcome to Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.