Humiliation in Ankara. "Unacceptable" Bolton
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan publicly reprimanded the United States National Security Advisor to the President John Bolton on the day of his visit to Turkey, calling his position on the situation in northern Syria unacceptable.
“Bolton makes a big mistake, his statement is unacceptable. Terrorist organizations do not represent the Kurds. Those who spread lies that Turkey is killing Kurds in Syria are trying to play on the moods of the world community, ”said Erdogan, speaking before the parliamentary faction of the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Earlier, Bolton said that the timing of the withdrawal of American troops from Syria depends on the elimination of the remaining militants of the terrorist group IG in Georgia banned in Russia and ensuring the security of the Kurdish self-defense forces.
According to him, the United States insists on ensuring the security of the Kurdish Self-Defense Units (YPG), which are allies of Washington, against possible actions by Turkey.
The Turkish head also added that Turkey "will soon move to decisive actions to neutralize the terrorists in Syria." Recall that the PKK (Workers Party of Kurdistan) and its affiliated YPG are considered terrorist organizations in Turkey.
In addition to this statement, which in America has already rated as offensive, the head of Turkey refused to meet with Bolton, who is leaving Turkey, without meeting with its president, which was undoubtedly one of the goals of this visit. And a preliminary agreement was reached on this meeting.
The theme of the failed meeting, as it is not difficult to understand, was to be a discussion of the situation in Syria after the decision by the US President to withdraw the troops from the Arab Republic.
But unexpectedly for the American side, Erdogan refused to talk with Bolton, referring to employment in connection with the solution of more important issues for him in the context of the upcoming local elections in Turkey.
To achieve the most humiliating effect for the American visitor, the status of the Turkish delegation was underlined by the rank of officials represented in it: Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, Deputy Defense Minister Yunus Emre Karaosmanoglu, Deputy Head of the National Intelligence Organization Jemalettin Chelik. Moreover, the Turkish Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalyn headed the group of “Turkish comrades,” which also unequivocally determined Ankara’s attitude towards these negotiations.
The meeting took place in the presidential complex behind closed doors and lasted 2 hours 10 minutes. On the American side, in addition to Bolton, Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Special Representative of the State Department for Syria James Jeffrey and others took part in it. According to insider data, there was no “breakthrough” at the negotiations, and no convergence of positions was noted. However, it would be strange to expect, with such initial data, to achieve any result.
According to American sources, the adviser to Donald Trump was leaving Turkey literally furious. And from his intention to respond to public humiliation with the response demarche, he was kept only by the need to preserve the possibility of further contacts and space for political maneuvers.
What is the reason for such demonstrative actions of Erdogan?
The fact is that earlier, during his meeting with his American counterpart on the margins of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, and then during a whole series of telephone conversations, quite specific agreements were reached on Northern Syria involving the evacuation of the American military contingent from this area and the transfer of "responsibility for what is happening there" to Turkey. Kurdish armed forces (YPG) actually remained outside the scope of these agreements.
Trump announced that the USA had destroyed the IS (with possible "relapses" Turkey will solve the problems), and there is nothing more for the Americans to do. That is, the host of the White House was clearly not planning to arrange the further fate of the Kurdish separatists.
If we consider the issue from a purely pragmatic point of view, he acted quite logically. The situation with the support of the separatist aspirations of part of the Kurds (and, in fact, this was occupied by the American contingent) came to a standstill and had no prospects for development. In addition, its development has consistently turned one of the most important American allies into an enemy.
By withdrawing the contingent from the north of Syria, Washington not only does not lose influence in the region (military bases provide bases in neighboring countries), but also gains a certain freedom of maneuver. At the same time, there is hope that the clash in the north of Syria of the interests of Turkey, Iran and Russia may lead to the disintegration of this situational alliance.
However, this logic was not accepted by a significant part of Trump's entourage, primarily by those who are most closely associated with Israel. As you know, Tel Aviv has greatly troubled Trump’s decision, since the Jewish state sees the Kurds as an important tool against Iran, Syria and Turkey.
Be that as it may, Trump’s entourage is making serious efforts to replay his agreements with Erdogan. That, in fact, was the goal of Bolton's blitz visit to Ankara.
However, Erdogan didn’t want to discuss with the American guest the revision of the agreements reached, especially since he understood perfectly well that there could be concessions in the proposed “dialogue” only from the Turkish side.
And since he is not going to provide security for YPG at all (and Bolton intended to achieve this), he didn’t meet with the adviser to the American president.
When Erdogan explained the refusal of personal participation in the negotiations with the preparation for the elections, he didn’t give a shit. Strictly speaking, he could easily meet with the American guest and talk to him "about nothing" without a demarche so spectacular and humiliating for the USA. But he chose just such a path, which, undoubtedly, would be highly appreciated by his compatriots - as a sign of Turkish power. When its leader is not afraid to put in place presumptuous Americans. Such steps invariably provide the Turkish leader with a high rating and broad support. A practical politician, he did not fail to use Bolton’s visit for election campaigning.
“Bolton makes a big mistake, his statement is unacceptable. Terrorist organizations do not represent the Kurds. Those who spread lies that Turkey is killing Kurds in Syria are trying to play on the moods of the world community, ”said Erdogan, speaking before the parliamentary faction of the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Earlier, Bolton said that the timing of the withdrawal of American troops from Syria depends on the elimination of the remaining militants of the terrorist group IG in Georgia banned in Russia and ensuring the security of the Kurdish self-defense forces.
According to him, the United States insists on ensuring the security of the Kurdish Self-Defense Units (YPG), which are allies of Washington, against possible actions by Turkey.
The Turkish head also added that Turkey "will soon move to decisive actions to neutralize the terrorists in Syria." Recall that the PKK (Workers Party of Kurdistan) and its affiliated YPG are considered terrorist organizations in Turkey.
In addition to this statement, which in America has already rated as offensive, the head of Turkey refused to meet with Bolton, who is leaving Turkey, without meeting with its president, which was undoubtedly one of the goals of this visit. And a preliminary agreement was reached on this meeting.
The theme of the failed meeting, as it is not difficult to understand, was to be a discussion of the situation in Syria after the decision by the US President to withdraw the troops from the Arab Republic.
But unexpectedly for the American side, Erdogan refused to talk with Bolton, referring to employment in connection with the solution of more important issues for him in the context of the upcoming local elections in Turkey.
To achieve the most humiliating effect for the American visitor, the status of the Turkish delegation was underlined by the rank of officials represented in it: Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, Deputy Defense Minister Yunus Emre Karaosmanoglu, Deputy Head of the National Intelligence Organization Jemalettin Chelik. Moreover, the Turkish Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalyn headed the group of “Turkish comrades,” which also unequivocally determined Ankara’s attitude towards these negotiations.
The meeting took place in the presidential complex behind closed doors and lasted 2 hours 10 minutes. On the American side, in addition to Bolton, Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Special Representative of the State Department for Syria James Jeffrey and others took part in it. According to insider data, there was no “breakthrough” at the negotiations, and no convergence of positions was noted. However, it would be strange to expect, with such initial data, to achieve any result.
According to American sources, the adviser to Donald Trump was leaving Turkey literally furious. And from his intention to respond to public humiliation with the response demarche, he was kept only by the need to preserve the possibility of further contacts and space for political maneuvers.
What is the reason for such demonstrative actions of Erdogan?
The fact is that earlier, during his meeting with his American counterpart on the margins of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, and then during a whole series of telephone conversations, quite specific agreements were reached on Northern Syria involving the evacuation of the American military contingent from this area and the transfer of "responsibility for what is happening there" to Turkey. Kurdish armed forces (YPG) actually remained outside the scope of these agreements.
Trump announced that the USA had destroyed the IS (with possible "relapses" Turkey will solve the problems), and there is nothing more for the Americans to do. That is, the host of the White House was clearly not planning to arrange the further fate of the Kurdish separatists.
If we consider the issue from a purely pragmatic point of view, he acted quite logically. The situation with the support of the separatist aspirations of part of the Kurds (and, in fact, this was occupied by the American contingent) came to a standstill and had no prospects for development. In addition, its development has consistently turned one of the most important American allies into an enemy.
By withdrawing the contingent from the north of Syria, Washington not only does not lose influence in the region (military bases provide bases in neighboring countries), but also gains a certain freedom of maneuver. At the same time, there is hope that the clash in the north of Syria of the interests of Turkey, Iran and Russia may lead to the disintegration of this situational alliance.
However, this logic was not accepted by a significant part of Trump's entourage, primarily by those who are most closely associated with Israel. As you know, Tel Aviv has greatly troubled Trump’s decision, since the Jewish state sees the Kurds as an important tool against Iran, Syria and Turkey.
Be that as it may, Trump’s entourage is making serious efforts to replay his agreements with Erdogan. That, in fact, was the goal of Bolton's blitz visit to Ankara.
However, Erdogan didn’t want to discuss with the American guest the revision of the agreements reached, especially since he understood perfectly well that there could be concessions in the proposed “dialogue” only from the Turkish side.
And since he is not going to provide security for YPG at all (and Bolton intended to achieve this), he didn’t meet with the adviser to the American president.
When Erdogan explained the refusal of personal participation in the negotiations with the preparation for the elections, he didn’t give a shit. Strictly speaking, he could easily meet with the American guest and talk to him "about nothing" without a demarche so spectacular and humiliating for the USA. But he chose just such a path, which, undoubtedly, would be highly appreciated by his compatriots - as a sign of Turkish power. When its leader is not afraid to put in place presumptuous Americans. Such steps invariably provide the Turkish leader with a high rating and broad support. A practical politician, he did not fail to use Bolton’s visit for election campaigning.
Information