Erdogan talks tough with Trump in the face of US sanctions

ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the United States of orchestrating a global economic crisis and trying to "bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor" as relations between the NATO allies neared a breaking point this weekend.

"It is wrong to dare bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor. I am calling on those in America again. Shame on you, shame on you. You are exchanging your strategic partner in NATO for a priest. You can never bring this nation in line with the language of threats,” Mr. Erdogan said at a rally in the Black Sea town of Unye on Friday.

"We have not made concessions on justice so far, and we will never make any."

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1027899286586109955

The US has demanded the release of Andrew Brunson and on Friday doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Ankara has detained Mr. Brunson for nearly two years, accusing him of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and the Gulenist movement, which Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.

But the pastor is only one of a number of issues addressed by Mr Erdogan in the New York Times and his two defiant speeches to supporters on Friday.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/world/us-sanctions-two-turkey-officials-over-detention-of-pastor/

Turning to the economic effects of the diplomatic row, President Erdogan said: "If they have the dollar, we have Allah." He added: "If there are dollars under your pillow, take these out. If there are euros, take these out. Immediately give these to the banks and convert to Turkish lira and by doing this, we fight this war of independence."

The worsening diplomatic spat between the two countries sent the lira down 16% against the dollar on Friday.

Sharing a picture of how his country sees the crisis with the Trump’s, Mr. Erdogan wrote in the American newspaper that unless the US changed course, Turkey would look for new friends and allies.

Reminding the world of the time when Turkey rushed to America’s help whenever necessary, during the past six decades, Erdogan recounted Turkish contribution in defusing the Korean and Cuba missile crises, and sending troops to Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

But, the US had "repeatedly and consistently failed to understand and respect the Turkish people's concerns".

“Unfortunately, our efforts to reverse this dangerous trend proved futile. Unless the United States starts respecting Turkey’s sovereignty and proves that it understands the dangers that our nation faces, our partnership could be in jeopardy,” Mr. Erdogan wrote in his article.

He also condemned as "unacceptable, irrational and ultimately detrimental", the sanctions imposed by the US on several Turkish cabinet members over the Brunson issue.



“To convey that Turkey does not respond to threats, we retaliated by sanctioning multiple American officials. Moving forward, we will abide by the same principle: Attempting to force my government to intervene in the judicial process is not in line with our Constitution or our shared democratic values.”

Turkey’s supreme leader is also clearly angry that the US has not taken more action against the Gulenist movement and what he said was a failure "to unequivocally condemn" the 2016 coup attempt.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/world/turkey-marks-anniversary-of-coup-attempt/

Mr. Erdogan says the coup was orchestrated from the United States, and specifically by a Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Turkish authorities have demanded that he be extradited, something American officials have dismissed.



The 64-year-old also highlighted the major difficulty in battling the Kurdish insurgency which has full US support for fighting Islamic State fighters in northern Syria.

“Another source of frustration relates to the partnership between the United States and the P.Y.D./Y.P.G., the Syrian branch of the P.K.K., an armed group that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Turkish citizens since 1984 and that is designated a terrorist group by the United States. According to estimates by the Turkish authorities, Washington used 5,000 trucks and 2,000 cargo planes to deliver weapons to the P.Y.D./Y.P.G in recent years,” Mr. Erdogan wrote in NYT.



Although the nations had been allies for decades, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey "now has alternatives".

"Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives. Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.”

On Friday Turkey made it clear Erdogan had spoken on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the latest US tariffs, with the two men "expressing pleasure" that relations were progressing "positively".

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/world/f35-or-s-400-us-threatens-turkey-with-sanctions-over-russian-anti-missile-systems-deal/

Turkey’s economy is only the 17th largest in the world, but its problems are worsening as Donald Trump’s trade war is rattling global commerce, damaging longtime alliances and threatening economic growth worldwide. However, Erdogan has shown no sign of backing down.

Now, the million dollar question is that who among these two strong-willed leaders would eventually have the upper hand in a widening diplomatic dispute largely focused on individual personalities?