A meeting between Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Trump, and congressional Republicans became tense when Erdogan pulled out an iPad and played an anti-Kurdish propaganda video.
According to Axios, Erdogan believed the clunky film, which attempted to paint U.S.-allied Kurds as terrorists, would help him win over support from those in the Oval Office. It did not.
“Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you’ve done?” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina quipped after Erdogan’s stunt. He and the Turkish leader went back-and-forth over Turkey’s invasion of Syria, with Erdogan becoming upset that Graham was using the word “invasion.”
Graham confirmed the fracas with Erdogan and said, “The Turkish narrative that they have done more to destroy ISIS, I rejected forcefully, and I let Turkey know that 10,000 SDF fighters, mostly Kurds, suffered, died or injured, in the fight against ISIS, and America will not forget that and will not abandon them.”
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida pushed Erdogan on “why Turkey should enjoy the protections of NATO when they’re cozying up to Russia.”
All of the lawmakers in the room were united in denying Turkey high-end F-35 fighter jets over its interest in the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
