Sen. Lindsey Graham, who believed he was talking to a top Turkish official, contradicted his recent statements and told Russian pranksters in August that the Kurds were a “threat.”
Alexey Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian pranksters believed to be tied to Russia’s intelligence services, called the South Carolina Republican in August posing as Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. The call primarily focused on Turkey’s departure from the F-35 program, though Graham also touched on Turkey’s fight against Kurdish militants.
“Your YPG Kurdish problem is a big problem,” Graham told the hoaxers, referencing the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, a group that has helped beat back ISIS in northern Syria.
The comments were an apparent contradiction to Graham’s fiery rhetoric in recent days. Since President Trump made the decision to move U.S. troops away from a part of northern Syria and allow a Turkish military operation to take place, there has been bipartisan backlash over the move.
Graham called for bipartisan sanctions against Turkey if it invaded Syria and said he would move to suspend Turkey’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if it attacks Kurdish forces there. Despite that, in the prank phone call he said he was “sympathetic” to the Turks.
“I told President Trump that Obama made a huge mistake in relying on the YPG Kurds,” Graham said. “Everything I worried about has come true, and now we have to make sure Turkey is protected from this threat in Syria. I’m sympathetic to the YPG problem, and so is the president, quite frankly.”
The Russian pranksters were able to get Graham on the phone again a few days later. Graham said he had spoken to Trump about the first call he had with the man he thought was Akar.
“I like President Erdoğan,” Graham told the hoaxers. “I think President Trump likes President Erdoğan. I think he’s a strong man and we need to deal with strong people.”
Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop confirmed that the call was true.
“We have been successful in stopping many efforts to prank Senator Graham and the office, but this one slipped through the cracks,” Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said. “They got him.”
“He has been clear he wants a stronger relationship and often talked about the importance of maintaining peace in northern Syria to prevent the reemergence of ISIS,” Bishop said in a statement. “With Turkey’s invasion into northern Syria the drive for better relations between our two countries has suffered a body blow.”
Bishop said Graham would continue to push for “severe, bitter sanctions” until Turkey withdraws its military from the region.
