{"id":138344,"date":"2022-10-10T08:09:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T12:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=138344"},"modified":"2022-10-10T08:09:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T12:09:18","slug":"trumps-turkish-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=138344","title":{"rendered":"

Trump\u2019s Turkish Problem<\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"

Evan Vucci\/AP Photo<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

By David Boyajian<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

American presidents have habitually kowtowed to Turkish demands. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, President Trump\u2019s business investments in Turkey, Turkish-tainted associates, and baffling deference to President Erdogan spawned an exceptionally troubling record.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That record could provide additional fodder for Trump\u2019s Republican, Democratic, and Justice Department (DOJ) foes, especially as Turkey remains a rogue NATO member and supporter<\/span><\/a> of international terrorism.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Below is a mere fraction of the dismal Trump-Turkish saga.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Little Conflict of Interest<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

“I have a little conflict of interest\u201d regarding Turkey, admitted Trump in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>ndeed, since 2012, Trump Towers\/Mall<\/span><\/a> in Istanbul has earned him a reported $10 million in naming rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mehmet Ali Yalcindag is Trump\u2019s Turkish partner in that venture.\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019s chaired the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAIK) \u2014 linked to the Turkish government \u2014 since 2018.\u00a0 <\/span>He was also reportedly an intermediary between Berat Albayrak (Erdogan\u2019s shady<\/span><\/a> son-in-law) and Jared Kushner (Trump\u2019s son-in-law).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, Yalcindag\u2019s letters<\/span><\/a> to Trump\u2019s Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy secretaries lobbied for increased business with Turkey.\u00a0 <\/span>Yalcindag conspicuously cc\u2019d Trump, thereby apparently (and inappropriately) leveraging their business partnership.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From 2013 until late 2020, DC\u2019s Mercury Public Affairs<\/span><\/a> served as TAIK\u2019s registered Turkish foreign agent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Trump\u2019s inauguration, Mercury hired his communications director, Bryan Lanza, and registered him as a Turkish agent<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Ballard Partners, headed by top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard, also soon became a Turkish agent<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Jr.\u2019s Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Trot\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Trump Jr. went hunting in Antalya, Turkey right after his father\u2019s election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accompanied by an unnamed businessman <\/span>\u2014<\/span> Yalcindag<\/i>, allegedly <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Donald Jr. bagged two wild goats.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The self-indulgent trip to a repressive<\/span><\/a> country highlighted the Trump family\u2019s Turkish blind spot<\/i>. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Erdogan\u2019s Capital Thuggery<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On May 16, 2017, Erdogan ordered his bodyguards to attack peaceful protesters outside his ambassador\u2019s residence in Washington, DC.\u00a0 <\/span>Erdogan had met Trump earlier that day.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The mostly American demonstrators were stomped and bloodied<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Several were hospitalized<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>A policeman was injured. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. House unanimously<\/span><\/a> demanded prosecution of Erdogan\u2019s bodyguards.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump, in contrast, remained shamefully silent<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That August the DOJ charged over a dozen of Erdogan\u2019s goons<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>However, they\u2019d long since returned to Turkey on Erdogan\u2019s order. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandalously, <\/i>in 2018, the DOJ dropped<\/span><\/a> charges against several of the bodyguards one day before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited<\/span><\/a> Ankara.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Erdogan and his goons won.\u00a0 <\/span>Americans lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump, Giuliani, and Zarrab\/Halkbank\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump allowed former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani to lobby for Turkey\u2019s interests and against America\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giuliani, a longtime Trump surrogate<\/span><\/a>, was a partner at the Greenberg Traurig law firm from 2016 to 2018.\u00a0 <\/span>It was a registered Turkish agent<\/span><\/a> from 2017 to 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump hired Giuliani as a cybersecurity advisor just before the 2017 inauguration.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, the Feds indicted Reza Zarrab, a filthy rich Turkish-Iranian-Azerbaijani citizen, for violating<\/span><\/a> U.S. sanctions against Iran through Turkey\u2019s Halkbank.\u00a0 <\/span>The latter is majority-owned by Turkey, close to Erdogan, and was also<\/i> a target of Federal prosecutors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In February of 2017, Giuliani represented Zarrab in a meeting with Erdogan<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For Trump appointee\/confidant Giuliani to advocate for Zarrab while Trump\u2019s DOJ was prosecuting the scoundrel smacked of a conflict of interest.\u00a0 <\/span>Yet Trump let Giuliani plow ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

In early 2017, Giuliani pressed<\/span><\/a> the DOJ to make \u201csome agreement\u201d with Turkey to bring about Zarrab\u2019s release.<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 11, 2017, Trump mysteriously<\/span><\/a> fired Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan who had been prosecuting Zarrab.\u00a0 <\/span>The president also fired (June 20, 2020) Bharara\u2019s successor, Geoffrey Berman, allegedly<\/span><\/a> for continuing to prosecute the related<\/i> Halkbank case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump asked<\/span><\/a> Secretary Tillerson to pressure the DOJ into dropping the Zarrab case.\u00a0 <\/span>Tillerson rightly refused.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At Erdogan\u2019s behest, Trump also reportedly<\/span><\/a> asked Attorney General Bill Barr and Federal prosecutors to go easy on Halkbank<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s interests trumped America\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Belated Sanctions\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Congress\u2019s CAATSA<\/span><\/a> law (August 2017) required America to penalize foreign entities doing business with Russia\u2019s defense industry.\u00a0 <\/span>Having bought Russian S-400 missiles, Turkey was an obvious offender.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yet Trump brazenly ignored CAATSA until<\/span><\/a> December of 2020 when Congressional pressure grew too great.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since S-400s can snoop on America\u2019s F-35 jet technology, the Pentagon insisted on Turkey\u2019s removal from the F-35 program. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, only<\/i> in 2019, and after repeatedly making excuses<\/i><\/span><\/a> <\/i>for Erdogan\u2019s buying S-400s, did Trump bar Turkey from acquiring F-35s.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Flynn\u2018s Turkish Escapades<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a former Defense Intelligence Agency director, was a Trump campaign advisor and Trump\u2019s first National Security Advisor (NSA).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Flynn lasted just 22 days as NSA because he\u2019d misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations<\/span><\/a> (December 2016) with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On July 15, 2016, <\/span>Flynn <\/i>publicly <\/i>supported<\/span><\/a> <\/i>the attempted Turkish coup against Erdogan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet on November 8 (Election Day) Flynn\u2019s article in DC\u2019s The Hill<\/span><\/a> made a U-turn.\u00a0 <\/span>Flynn defended<\/i> Erdogan and thundered against<\/i> Fethullah Gulen, <\/span>the Pennsylvania-based, expatriate Turkish cleric whom Erdogan blamed for the coup.\u00a0 <\/span>Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps because that summer and fall, the Flynn Intel Group was paid<\/span><\/a> over $500,000 by TAIK Chair Kamil Ekim Alptekin and his Inovo BV \u2014 a firm linked to the Turkish government \u2014 to work for Turkish interests and against Gulen.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Under pressure, Flynn registered retroactively<\/i> as a Turkish agent in March of 2017.\u00a0 <\/span>The DOJ eventually dropped charges against Flynn related to his talks with Amb. Kislyak.\u00a0 <\/span>Trump pardoned<\/span><\/a> Flynn in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Did Trump hire Flynn as NSA precisely because<\/i> of Flynn\u2019s partnerships with TAIK, Alptekin, and Turkey?\u00a0 <\/span>It wouldn\u2019t surprise us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump Endorsed Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Oz\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mehmet Oz is a popular TV show host and a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s not a conservative.\u00a0 <\/span>At best, he\u2019s moderate or even liberal on abortion<\/span><\/a>, gun control<\/span><\/a>, and LGBTQ<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Curiously, though, this April Trump endorsed Oz over his unquestionably conservative GOP primary opponents, Kathy Barnette and David McCormick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump had previously endorsed Sean Parnell for Senate.\u00a0 <\/span>Only after Parnell dropped out on November 22, 2021 did Oz enter the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oz is an American-born Turkish citizen, served in the Turkish army, and voted<\/span><\/a> in Turkey\u2019s 2018 election.\u00a0 <\/span>His campaign\u2019s financial disclosure omitted<\/span><\/a> his condominium in Fairview, New Jersey, occupied by two controversial Turkish nationalists.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, sai<\/span>d Oz should explain<\/span><\/a> the \u201cscope and the depth of his relationship with the Turkish government<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump implied<\/span><\/a> Oz\u2019s name recognition would increase his electability.\u00a0 <\/span>And Melania Trump reportedly likes<\/span><\/a> Oz.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Still, was Oz\u2019s Turkish background a factor in Trump\u2019s support?\u00a0 <\/span>Did Trump\u2019s Turkish network (including Erdogan) persuade him to endorse Oz? \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump Betrayed Anti-ISIS Partners<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

As an American ally<\/i>, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) \u201470,000 fighters \u2014 has sustained some 11,000 casualties<\/span><\/a> in its brave fight against <\/i>ISIS.\u00a0 <\/span>The SDF consists mainly of the Kurdish YPG (People’s Defense Units).\u00a0 <\/span>The rest are mixed, anti-ISIS Syrian militias.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Erdogan claims that the YPG is linked to the Kurdish PKK, which the U.S. regards as a terrorist organization.\u00a0 <\/span>Turkey, of course, remains a state sponsor of international terrorism<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On October 6, 2019, Trump informed Erdogan that American troops were withdrawing from the SDF\u2019s stronghold, northeast Syria<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Trump thereby greenlighted Turkey\u2019s invasion of that region three days later. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cA stab in the back,\u201d declared the SDF of Trump\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. House quickly voted<\/span><\/a> 354 to 60 to rebuke the administration and Turkey. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump rationalized betraying the Kurds: \u201cThey didn\u2019t help us in WWII [and] Normandy.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The remark was historically preposterous<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, Turkey itself was pro-Nazi<\/span><\/a> during WWII.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Added Trump, \u201cWe like the Kurds.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>In 2017, though, he declared, \u201cI don\u2019t like Kurds.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s onslaught killed hundreds of SDF members and forcibly displaced at least 160,000<\/span><\/a> civilians, including Kurds and Christians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thousands of ISIS members were being held in SDF prisons.\u00a0 <\/span>Several hundred or more escaped due to Turkey\u2019s offensive.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Brett McGurk, formerly an anti-ISIS Presidential envoy, cited \u201cwar crimes\u201d by pro-Turkish forces during the invasion. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Retired U.S. General Joseph Votel warned that Trump\u2019s abandonment<\/span><\/a> of the SDF damaged America\u2019s future \u201ccredibility and reliability.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the invasion and Erdogan\u2019s Washington, DC thuggery in 2017, Trump hosted the Turkish autocrat on November 13, 2019. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019m] a big fan of the President,\u201d proclaimed Erdogan.\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, and vice versa, to America\u2019s detriment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do the Right Thing<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The wider problem, of course, is that the State Department and our foreign policy establishment have long let Turkey dupe and emasculate them.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Trump runs for office again or stays in the public eye, he should ditch his Turkish investments, Turkish-tainted cronies, and Turkish fixation.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s in his and America\u2019s best interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Boyajian\u2019s primary foreign policy focus is the Caucasus. His work can be found <\/i><\/b>here<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}