Erdogan threw Trump's letter 'in the trash’ then decided to launch Syria offensive
Borzou Daragahi
,
The Independent•October 17, 2019
EPA Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a military operation to take control of a huge swath of northeast Syria just hours after angrily reading and tossing out a now-infamous, rambling letter by US President Donald Trump urging him not to do so, local media cited official sources as saying.
Reports about the existence of the 9 October letter and the Turkish reaction comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence arrive in Ankara to negotiate with the Erdogan government to halt Operation Peace Spring, its eight-day offensive to dislodge a Kurdish-militia from its border.
According to a Turkish journalists citing unnamed sources close to the government in Ankara, Mr Erdogan read the letter and launched the operation shortly thereafter at 4pm local time on 9 November.
“Erdogan rejected the offer of mediation and the letter was thrown into the trash,” wrote journalist Ahmet Hakan, who maintains strong official contacts with Ankara and writes for the pro-government paper Hurriyet, on Twitter. “The clearest answer to this letter is the one on 9 October at 16:00. This answer is the Operation Peace Spring.”
No Turkish official has yet publicly confirmed the account, which has been reported by several Turkish-language news outlets.
Much has been made of the familiar tone of the letter, which was leaked by the White House to Fox News, and urges Mr Erdogan, “Don’t be a tough guy! Don’t be a fool!”
But analysts say the suggestion that Mr Erdogan, a head of state of a G20 country, could meet and negotiate with the head of an organisation Turkey considers a terrorist organisation would have been the most insulting dimension of the letter.
In the letter, Mr Trump told Mr Erdogan he could make a “great deal” with General Mazloum Kobani, leader of the People’s Protection Units ( YPG), the Kurdish-led militia that is allied with Washington in the fight against Isis.
Putting the YPG and Turkey on an equal footing would be unacceptable, say several analysts familiar with Ankara’s thinking, akin to suggesting Osama bin Laden would sit down with George W. Bush.
A presenter at pro-government CNN Turk described the letter as “weird and far from diplomatic.”
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