Posted on 04/18/2017 2:36:36 AM PDT by Spiridon
Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Sunday's referendum that gave him sweeping new powers.
The US president's phone call contrasts with concern by European leaders who have pointed out how the result-51.4% in favor of the changes-has exposed deep splits in Turkish society.
Mr. Erdogan has rejected criticism from international monitors who said he had been favored by an "unequal campaign".
"Know your place," he told them.
The narrow victory was ruled valid by Turkey's electoral body, despite claims to irregularities by the opposition.....
The call from Donald Trump was pre-arranged and the focus was on Syria-but the congratulations for President Erodgan's victory means the US president joins leaders from Qatar, Guinea, Djibouti an the Palestinian militant movement Hamas to voice the opinion, while those in Europe have been far more cautious.
It will delight Erdogan supporters, who will see it as legitimizing the president's victory. But it will dismay opponents, after Mr. Erodgan's fiery tirades against the West and the damning verdict of international observers.
It exposes a split between the EU and US on Turkey: Mr Trump opting for realpolitik while Europe urges the unpredictable Turkish leader to reconcile a divided country.......
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Turkey is somewhere between the West and the East as I read it with Trump trying to get this guy on our side I guess. Erodgan did support the missile attack in Syria and pushed the 'poison gas attack' line.
The new Turkish presidency approved in the referendum would decide on cabinet ministers with hiring and firing powers, the same for judges.
Erdogan claims he wants the power of an American president or a French president.
But this new system due to take effect in 2019 would make the Turkish president even more powerful than the French presidency which is more powerful than the American.
There's plenty of chatter about the congrats for Erdogan from the BBC.
When General Flynn resigned at National Security Advisor there were stories that Flynn was a Turkish agent. He had met with Erdogan government representatives to discuss handing over the cleric Fetullah Gulen, who currently lives in the US. Gulen is accused of plotting last year's coup attempt in Turkey.
The DEBKA site from Israel published a blurb over the weekend saying the Turks accuse 17 American VIP's of coup involvement last year. Only name mentioned was that of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
Yep, Chuck Schumer was apparently involved in the failed coup last year. Trump should hand him over to Erdogan as a gesture of good will.
It doesn’t come up on an “Erdogan” FR search, but here is the other thread on the topic: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3544977/posts
Mr Trump should be wishing Erdogan a short reign, he is bad news.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/20/middleeast/turkey-syria-air-raid/index.html
Erdogan is looking more and more like a Moslem-Hitler dictator. Total control of the entire government. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer eh Donald?!
Now the weird begins:
http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2017/04/erdogans-akp-partys-main-mouthpiece.html
Erdogan’s AKP Party’s main mouthpiece: “Erdogan is now ‘the Caliph’ who needed to be trusted and obeyed.”
Why was Chuck Schumer interfering with another political system? Shame on ALL Democrats!
If there was a plot their first mistake was getting losers like Schumer involved.
Erdogan is an anti-Christ wannabe,
Yeah, he is evil and a slowmotion trainwreck happening right in front of us for both Europe and the West,
First major Trump foreign policy mistake.
Agreed.
I support President Trump and wish him the best, but of course the Syrian issue with the spurious claim of a gas attack and his firing missiles was not good.
Erdogan and his Turkish Islamist variation is troublesome but I would say there are worse variations of Islam.
Erdogan still depends on Turkish nationalists to help him win elections and I know that’s not good for the Kurds.
Turkey may be in NATO but they can’t be trusted in a crisis, that’s for sure.
A pre-arranged phone call. A pro forma response to an election and Trump has failed. Wow!
Isn’t this something that clinton wiuld do? After all obama said, back in 2016 that all parties in turkey should support erdogan government.
Turkey’s goal is to render Europe Islamic.
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