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Erdogan Hands ‘Tough Guy’ Letter Back to Trump Behind the Scenes, Erdogan’s Friendly White House Visit Had Tense Moments
(about 7 hours later)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has said he returned a letter sent to him last month by President Trump that had implored him not to be a “tough guy” or a “fool” as he embarked on an offensive in northern Syria. WASHINGTON — To outward appearances, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey enjoyed a genial visit to the White House on Wednesday, where he and President Trump exchanged compliments and resolved to work out multiple policy disputes between Washington and Ankara.
“This letter was re-presented to Mr. President this afternoon,” Mr. Erdogan said when asked by a reporter about the message during a joint news conference with Mr. Trump in Washington on Wednesday. But behind the scenes, the visit featured some tense and awkward moments that have come into clearer view only after Mr. Erdogan’s departure. Among them was an unusual Oval Office meeting Mr. Trump convened with Mr. Erdogan and five Republican senators, some of whom challenged the Turkish leader in sharp terms, according to attendees.
The comments were made during an outwardly warm meeting between the two leaders that comes at an especially fraught time for relations between their countries. Mr. Erdogan began an invasion of northern Syria last month, targeting Kurdish fighters once backed by the United States who were instrumental in the fight against the Islamic State. On his return to Turkey, Mr. Erdogan was rewarded with accolades from pro-government news outlets for standing up to Mr. Trump by returning a blustery letter Mr. Trump sent him in October. In the message, Mr. Trump warned the Turkish leader, “Don’t be a fool,” by launching a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria. Mr. Erdogan ignored the warning and sent troops across the border on Oct. 9.
Mr. Trump sent the letter on Oct. 9 urging against the military action, which came after American forces were abruptly pulled out of the region days earlier. Mr. Trump drew criticism for the decision to remove the troops, which many saw as a green light for Mr. Erdogan’s long-planned offensive. “We gave back the letter that we have received,” Mr. Erdogan said Wednesday during a joint news conference with Mr. Trump. On his plane home, Mr. Erdogan said the White House “had no reaction” to his gesture, according to the Turkish news channel NTV.
Mr. Trump pointed to the letter as evidence that he was not supportive of Mr. Erdogan’s approach. While Mr. Erdogan himself did not gloat, pro-government news outlets in Turkey did. The Daily Sabah ran an article under the headline “Decisive Stance From Erdogan,” noting that the letter “was returned to its owner by hand.” Hurriyet and Milliyet, two newspapers owned by a pro-government conglomerate, also announced the return of the letter on their front pages.
“History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way,” Mr. Trump said in the letter. “It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later.” The White House declined to comment, and Mr. Trump did not mention the letter on Wednesday.
Mr. Erdogan went ahead with his plan despite the warning, drawing ire from many in the United States, including members of Congress who made plans for sanctions against Turkey. Some Turkish news reports suggested at the time that Mr. Erdogan threw the letter in the trash, and he publicly criticized it, telling reporters in Istanbul, “We will not forget this lack of respect.” Mr. Erdogan also went on the offensive in his meeting with the senators. Sitting beside Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, he surprised the lawmakers by producing an iPad to play a video depicting atrocities said to have been committed by two Kurdish groups, the People’s Protection Units, known as the Y.P.G., and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the P.K.K.
The Turkish government considers the Kurdish fighters to be terrorists because of their links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which has mounted a violent separatist campaign in Turkey for decades. The Y.P.G. played an instrumental role in the fight against the Islamic State, working closely with United States military forces. Turkey calls it an offshoot of the P.K.K., a separatist organization that the State Department has designated as a terrorist group. Mr. Erdogan insists he is unfairly branded as anti-Kurd, and objects only to Kurdish groups he calls a threat to Turkey’s security.
During the news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan went on to denounce the Kurdish leader of the Syrian forces that once helped the United States battle the Islamic State, Mazlum Kobani — referring to him by his given name, Ferhat Abdi Sahin. Mr. Erdogan told reporters on his plane that Mr. Trump was “very impressed” by the video, according to NTV.
“This individual, Ferhat Abdi Sahin, has been instrumental in the killings of hundreds of Turkish civilians,” Mr. Erdogan said. “A person like this should not be welcomed by a country such as the United States.” But the Turkish leader was also on the receiving end of stinging words.
Mr. Erdogan later returned to discussion of the letter, noting for a second time, “We gave back the letter that we have received.” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was among the Republican attendees in the Oval Office meeting, recounted on Thursday that Mr. Erdogan — a strongman rarely challenged directly at home — “went nuts” after Mr. Graham used the word “invasion” to describe Turkey’s widely condemned military offensive against the Kurdish fighters.
Mr. Trump offered no response to the comment, which was delivered in Turkish but simultaneously translated for the president and those in the news conference. “I said, ‘Well, the reason it’s an invasion is that’s exactly what you did,’” Mr. Graham said. “I warned you not to do it. And everything that I was worried about came true in spades.”
The Syrian incursion is not the only pain point in the relationship between Turkey and the United States. Turkey’s recent purchase of the advanced Russian S-400 antiaircraft missile system has also upset many in Washington. In response to Mr. Erdogan’s video, Mr. Graham recalled, “I said, ‘Want me to get the Kurds to make one about what you’re doing?’”
Mr. Erdogan also met on Wednesday with five Republican senators — Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jim Risch of Idaho, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — in an attempt to repair the bilateral relationship. Analysts said that Mr. Trump probably hoped such exchanges would demonstrate for his Turkish counterpart, with whom he has sought warm relations, the pressure he faces from members of Congress who are furious over the Turkish military action in Syria, as well as Turkey’s purchase of a Russian antiaircraft missile system. Leaders of both parties in Congress have called for sanctions to punish the moves by Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally that under Mr. Erdogan’s leadership has moved toward authoritarianism, including closer ties with Russia.
Mr. Scott said, “We know that there’s issues that we’re dealing with right now, but the goal — my goal here and I think all of our goal here — is, at the end of this meeting, we’re in a better position where we’re better allies.” Mr. Trump said he wanted to salvage that relationship, and on Wednesday he cited a 70-year alliance between Washington and Ankara forged during the Cold War, when Turkey feared Soviet domination.
Despite the recent tensions, Mr. Trump has long expressed admiration for the strongman Turkish leader and the two have found common ground in the past But many in Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — do not share Mr. Trump’s positive view of his Turkish counterpart. The Republican senators in attendance — Mr. Graham, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jim Risch of Idaho, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida — share that view, but have been far more willing than Mr. Trump to criticize the Turkish leader.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump pointed to a cease-fire between Turkish forces and the Kurdish-led militia in northern Syria as a sign of progress, and the leaders offered praise for each other. “Primarily, this was Trump’s favor to Erdogan, allowing him to plead his case directly with the Republican senators in an attempt to prevent a veto-proof sanctions vote against Turkey,” said Aykan Erdemir, a former member of Turkey’s Parliament and now a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.
Mr. Erdogan repeatedly called President Trump his “dear friend, ” and despite the fact that the two countries remained in opposition over both the Russian missile system purchase and Turkey’s actions in Syria, he said he remained hopeful. “Trump would have also seen this as an opportunity to demonstrate that he alone does not call all the shots on U.S. foreign and security policy, so as to lower Erdogan’s expectations from him personally,” Mr. Erdemir added.
“I think we should remain resolved, in order to open a new chapter in our relations, which are in full compliance with our deeply rooted alliance,” he said. Mr. Risch, who serves as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he and the other senators who attended had explained to the Turkish president that the mood of Congress was “very clearly not in his favor.” He added that Mr. Erdogan’s tone had been “defensive.”
The American president had equally fond words for his Turkish counterpart. Mr. Risch said he told Mr. Erdogan that he would effectively block Turkey from receiving any American F-35 fighter jets, which it helped develop in partnership with the Atlantic alliance, as long as the country retains the Russian surface-to-air missile systems, known as the S-400. Defense Department officials say that operating the advanced F-35 in proximity to a Russian system could compromise the plane’s technology. Mr. Risch and other leading members of Congress also say that Turkey’s acquisition of the missile system should set off sanctions under a 2017 law meant to punish the purchase of Russian military hardware by other nations.
“I’m a big fan of the president, I have to tell you that,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Erdogan. “And I know that the cease-fire, while complicated, is moving forward and moving forward at a very rapid clip.” “The president I can tell you was sitting right there when we delivered this very hard message,” Mr. Risch added. “Erdogan did not look to him for help and the president did not offer help.”
Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at Chatham House, a research institution in London, said that despite the cozy relationship between the two leaders, giving back the letter could be an attempt by Mr. Erdogan to play to his base. Mr. Risch said he hopes to move a bipartisan package of sanctions against Turkey that he sponsored with Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the panel, although not until “negotiations have fallen off the rails.”
Mr. Hakura said the Turkish leader was seeking “to bolster his nationalist image domestically” by returning the “stridently written letter” to Mr. Trump. Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, met Thursday with Mr. Trump and discussed, among other matters, the S-400 sale. European diplomats said a compromise was possible, and both sides were signaling they wanted one. But one diplomat said the technical hurdles to reaching some sort of deal that is acceptable to both sides remained a challenge.
Pro-government news outlets in Turkey applauded Mr. Erdogan for returning the letter to Mr. Trump. The Daily Sabah, a newspaper close to the government, ran an article under the headline “Decisive Stance From Erdogan,” noting that the letter “was returned to its owner by hand.” “There is a strong motivation, drive to solve the disagreement,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “And if we are not able to solve the disagreement, to find a way to avoid it undermining the alliance.”
Hurriyet and Milliyet, two newspapers owned by another pro-government conglomerate, also announced the return of the letter on their front pages. Mr. Trump also held a second meeting with Republican senators on Thursday, including Mr. Cruz, Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, Steve Daines of Montana, Michael D. Crapo of Idaho and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.
The Turkish opposition seemed skeptical that the return of the letter had any significance. “Having some relationship, even with your adversaries, makes sense, particularly one that still is a NATO ally, and we still have obviously some very strong interest in,” Mr. Cramer said.
Faik Oztrak, a spokesman for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, said in a news conference on Thursday that there had been no apology from Mr. Trump for the “insulting letter” and said that Mr. Erdogan had been too meek in his approach. After the White House publicly released Mr. Trump’s Oct. 9 letter to Mr. Erdogan, some Turkish news reports suggested the Turkish leader had thrown it in the trash, and he publicly criticized it, telling reporters in Istanbul, “We will not forget this lack of respect.”
“Our country’s honor was not defended sufficiently if this letter was presented and not returned,” he said. “There is no solid outcome of this meeting regarding finding solutions to the problems between the two countries.” Michael Crowley and Catie Edmondson reported from Washington, and Megan Specia from London. Julian E. Barnes and Emily Cochrane contributed reporting from Washington.
Engin Ozkoc, an opposition member of Parliament, was also critical of Mr. Erdogan’s approach.
“Erdogan is roaring in Turkey but quiet in the U.S.” he wrote on Twitter. “He said he ‘presented’ the despicable letter. The letter shouldn’t have been presented, it should have been returned through diplomatic ways.”