(November 14) Trump welcomed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Wednesday, Trump's warm welcome included the president saying he was a "big fan" of Erdogan.
As a recent article notes Erdogan's warm welcome took place in spite of the Turkish invasion of the so-called safe zone along its border with Syria: "Turkey's recent offensive against a key U.S. ally in Syria did not stop President Trump from honoring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a White House visit and joint press conference. Throughout the afternoon on Wednesday, the president had approving words for the authoritarian leader, whose military invaded northern Syria and forced out America's Kurdish allies. "
On Syria even Trump threatened that he could destroy the entire Turkish economy on a moment's notice. However any such discourse was carefully avoided in the meeting with Erdogan.
As reported in a recent article Trump's position on Turkey and Syria has hardly been consistent: "Trump ordered U.S. troops stationed in the border area to withdraw ahead of the Turkish invasion, while exhorting Erdogan in an extraordinarily undiplomatic letter to avoid too much bloodshed.“Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Trump wrote in the letter, which was reportedly thrown by Erdogan into the trash."
Lawmakers of both parties critical of Erdogan
The Turkish invasion of Syria was criticized by a number of US lawmakers both Republican and Democrat.
A motion by the US Congress has also condemned the Turkish role in the Armenian genocide a resolution Erodgan has condemned as a grave insult to Turkey.
Earlier this week some members of the US Congress sent Trump a letter urging he cancel the visit: "Earlier this week, a group of Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Trump calling on him to cancel Erdogan’s invitation to the White House. The letter, which was led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, expressed frustration with both Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. "
However, Trump was careful not to bring up any topic disagreeable to Erdogan. Erdogan so far seems not to be looking to pick fights with Congress while he is in the US, and just focus on all the praise Trump has to offer.
Previously published in the Digital Journal
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