Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly threw a blunt letter from President Trump about the Kurds in the trash and then promptly invaded Syria.
The letter was drafted after Trump’s decision to relocate military forces from northern Syria, opening the door to a Turkish offensive. In the letter he urged the Turkish leader against the action, writing, “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”
When Erdoğan saw the letter, he disregarded it and went ahead with the invasion anyway, according to the BBC.
“President Erdoğan received the letter, thoroughly rejected it and put it in the bin,” according to Turkish presidential sources.
In the letter, Trump also encouraged Erdoğan to work with the United States and Kurdish allies to broker a deal. He also threatened to damage the Turkish economy if they didn’t comply.
“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,” Trump wrote. “I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down.”
“History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen,” he added.
News of Erdoğan’s pointed rejection of Trump’s overtures comes the same day as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are in Turkey to meet with Erdoğan and advocate for a ceasefire.
Despite bipartisan backlash, Trump has defended his decision to move troops out of the area allowing Turkey to invade Syria. He said troops shouldn’t be in the region as “two countries fight over land that has nothing to do with us.”
