The euphoria generated in Turkey by President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria has quickly devolved into acrimony as Washington and Ankara fail to reach agreement on the fate of the Syrian Kurds.
Why it matters: Hammering home his country’s refusal to take orders from the United States, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointedly refused to meet with national security adviser John Bolton during his two-day trip to Turkey. The pro-government Daily Sabah piled on today with an editorial accusing Bolton of staging a “soft coup” against Trump by allegedly creating caveats for the withdrawal with demands that Turkey first pledge not to attack the US-backed Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State.
