ERDOGAN OF TURKEY TO U.S.:
"SHAME ON YOU. YOU ARE EXCHANGING YOUR STRATEGIC PARTNER IN NATO FOR A PRIEST"
BY ROBERT SPENCER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
For years I have called for a reconfiguration of our international alliances to reflect new alliances. Now it is happening of its own accord. Rapidly re-Islamizing Turkey has not been a reliable ally of the US for years. It is long overdue that this sham alliance be brought to an end, and our alliances with foes of jihad in the region be strengthened.“Erdogan warns Trump that Turkey will ‘find new friends’ as US row deepens,” by Josie Ensor, Telegraph, August 11, 2018:Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Turkey would “seek new friends” after the US “upset and annoyed” Ankara with sanctions which triggered a major currency crisis.Turkey’s president told counterpart Donald Trump to respect its sovereignty “before it is too late”, plunging relations between the Nato allies to their lowest in decades.Writing in the New York Times – the broadsheet paper much loathed by the US president – Mr Erdogan said: “Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives.“Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.”The Turkish lira tumbled more than 16 per cent on Friday – a record low against the dollar – after Washington imposed sanctions as well as steel and aluminium tariffs to compel it to turn over a jailed American pastor.Mr Trump announced the punitive doubling of tariffs, which were imposed in protest over the detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was arrested on terrorism charges after the attempted coup against Mr Erdogan in 2016, saying: “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”The US is the biggest destination for Turkish steel exports with 11 per cent of the Turkish export volume.The country has weathered several tough economic crises over the decades, but has traditionally always had Washington’s staunch support.Mr Erdogan framed Turkey’s crisis as a “national battle” against economic enemies, including the US. “If they have their dollar, we have the people, we have Allah,” he said, appealing to his religious Muslim base. His supporters in the crowd ripped up one dollar notes in protest.The president, who has consolidated unprecedented power through a series of referendums, advised Turks to show solidarity by converting any stashed-away gold or foreign currency to Turkish lira in a bid to wage a “war of independence” against America.“It is wrong to dare bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor,” Mr Erdogan told a rally in the Black Sea town of Unye yesterday.“I am calling on those in America again. Shame on you, shame on you. You are exchanging your strategic partner in Nato for a priest.”Mr Erdogan vowed there would be no easing of the law in Mr Brunson’s case: “We have not made concessions on justice so far, and we will never make any,” he said….
