I want to help you not slaughter thousands - Trump letter to Erdogan!
In a letter that is getting smacked on social media, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Turkish President Recep Erdogan to let him help the latter not ‘slaughter’ thousands.
The unequivocal, straight forward letter (one of the most straightforward writing by Trump so far) and with no jargon, Trump says:
“Let’s work out a good deal!”
“You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy – and I will.”
He then referred to the Pastor Brunson episode which led to U.S. pressures on Turkey to free the pastor which Turkey did.
CNN’s Jake Tapper read the letter sent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 9, 2019.
But some portals like MSNBC thought the letter was weird.
DEADLINE WHITE HOUSE
This letter Trump sent to Erdogan is ‘so weird we had to check with the White House to make sure it’s real’ – MSNBC
Below is the full letter from Trump to Erdogan:
THE MEANING
But what is the meaning of the letter, in which Trump went to the extent of reaching out to Erdogan in such terms as “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool.”
In our U.S. ‘Cyberwar’ story on Iran, we said we do not believe Trump is ready for an all-out war anywhere in the world.
We also said the U.S. has a foreign policy that is not to spark total warfare with its ‘foes’, just like its tough stance on Iran but instead of bombing Iranian facilities etc, the U.S. launched a cyberwar on Iran’s tech defence.
The letter to Erdogan confirms the U.S. intent to keep pressurising the countries that it feels are not acting according to the logic of Trump.
It also shows a Trump we have not heard of that much lately, that is the businessman who negotiates, not the President who only threatens.
In an analysis before Trump took power at the White House, we said we believe he will use a sort of ‘carrot and stick’ foreign policy, which will be an ad hoc policy since Trump did not understand yet what to do with ‘external’ threats.
The letter is full of the carrot and stick.
Once again, the outcome of the letter will solely depend on how the Turkish President reacts in this battle of wits!
But Trump made it clear. The Turkish President has little room to manoeuvre and if he does the ‘wrong’ things such as not doing the ‘right and humane’ things, he might use the stick.
In that case, Trump has once again threatened economic warfare, not a military solution to the problem.