Erdogan displays political prowess in deflecting Trump threat
In response to Trump's tweet threatening to destroy Turkey economically if it attacked the Kurds, Erdogan focused on the other half of the tweet: a buffer zone along the Syrian border.
ANKARA, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demonstrated his political skills today when he eschewed attacking the US president for threatening Turkey and changed the Syrian debate from wiping out the Kurdish militia to erecting a buffer zone along the Turkish-Syrian border.
Erdogan spoke a day after President Donald Trump posted a tweet about the US withdrawal from Syria, in which he threatened to "devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds.” The comment provoked an outcry. Opposition politicians and centrist media joined the government in condemning Trump for his heavy-handedness.
Erdogan himself is fond of aggressive rhetoric and bluster intended to mobilize nationalists and frighten his enemies. So when he mounted the podium to address his party’s legislators in parliament today, observers expected him to respond to Trump in kind.
Instead, Erdogan focused on a different part of Trump’s tweet, where the American president had written: “Create 20 mile safe zone.”
