President Trump told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a letter this month not to “be a tough guy” and urged him to work out a deal between Turkey and Kurdish forces.
In the letter dated Oct. 9 and released Wednesday by Fox Business’s Trish Regan, Trump warned Erdoğan over attacking Kurdish forces, who helped the United States fight the Islamic State. He also threatened the Turkish economy.
“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.”
Trump said that the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces is willing to negotiate and indicated that he enclosed a copy of a letter he had received from its leader, Gen. Mazloum Kobani. He said the Kurdish forces were “willing to make concessions that they would never have made in the past.”
“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 said. “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”
“I will call you later,” Trump added.
EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained a copy of @realDonaldTrump’s letter to #Erdogan. @POTUS warns him to not “be a tough guy! Don’t be a fool!” Says he could destroy Turkey’s economy if #Syria is not resolved in a humane way. Details tonight at 8pm #TrishRegan #FoxBusiness pic.twitter.com/9BoSGlbRyt
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) October 16, 2019
Earlier Wednesday, Trump appeared combative on the matter and 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.”
Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are heading to Turkey to meet with Erdoğan and advocate for a ceasefire.
