Trump’s Letter to President Erdogan

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has fought a decades-long insurgency against the
Turkish state that has claimed thousands of lives. It is classified as a terrorist
organization by most Nato states. Turkey says the YPG, the dominant Kurdish group
in the Syrian Democratic Forces militia that fought alongside US troops to defeat
Islamic State, is an extension of the PKK. It launched an offensive into Syria to crush
the group after Mr Trump ordered US forces out of northern Syria over a phone call
with Turkey’s President Tayyib Erdogan on 6th Oct, 2019.

During a press conference while responding to a reporter’s question, President Trump

said that he did not give President Tayyib Erdogan of Turkey a green light to move
Turkish forces into northern Syria, adding that he’d written a “very powerful letter” of
warning in the days after announcing his decision to pull back American troops from
the area. The stern letter written by President Trump to President Erdogan, dated 9th
October 2019 was initially leaked to Fox News host Trish Reagan, then confirmed by
the White House as some questioned its authenticity and others suggested it was
parody.

The letter—likely the first in history from one world leader to another that included
the phrases like “don’t be a fool,” multiple exclamation points, and the warning that
“history will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen” — was
found so insulting that President Erdogan decided to promptly launch the invasion.

This letter by President Donald Trump urging the Turkish leader not to "be a tough
guy" over his bombardments in northern Syria, breaches all standards of diplomacy. It
is written in a very colloquial, non diplomatic language which uses a combination of
exhortation laced with threats to persuade Mr Erdogan to reverse his decision. The
letter suggests a complete breakdown of the policy-making process where no input
from top state department or Pentagon advisers has seemingly been taken. It has been
highly criticized and is declared a complete diplomatic failure for the United States of
America by experienced diplomats and policymakers.