What Bolton said that triggered Erdogan:
“...as we discuss with ... Turkey ... we expect that those who have fought with us in Syria . . . particularly the Kurds,” not be put in “jeopardy” by the withdrawal.
Who are "the Kurds" Bolton is referring to?
Turkey is still in an armed conflict with the PKK & their affiliates. The PKK are listed as terrorists around the world incl in the US since 1997 & have a long history of separatism/terrorism in Turkey going back to 1978.
The US created a new group in 2015 called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made primarily from the YPG & YPJ (female YPG), rebranding them as the SDF in a PR move. Most of the YPG commanders and fighters are PKK.
What the Turkish President said when addressing the topic:
"For us there is not a slight difference among PYD, PKK, YPG or Daesh (ISIS)"
My 2c
Bolton's trip to Israel was cut short. He was scheduled to go to the Golan Heights with Netanyahu but they called it off "due to weather". Now his trip to Turkey is a total failure. How obvious does it have to be that he's a liability before Trump fires him?
Bolton is close to the Republican megadonor Sheldon G. Adelson (Trump's largest donor). Mr. Adelson, a casino billionaire, urged the Trump administration to hire Mr. Bolton for a senior post. [source]
Comments
(Old Spike)
Sorry for spamming so much politics on the site. I know it's annoying or boring stuff to some people but at least it's real. It could be worse.....
(Old Spike)
You just renewed my faith in twitter.
(Old Spike)
LMFAO, saying they want to protect the kurds is either a typical arrogant "trump dumb" or telling erdogan to fuck off with his politics to imprison people that share their opinion. I doubt it's the latter.
(Old Spike)
Bolton doesn't speak for Trump & is terrible at messaging. Protecting Kurds is just a US domestic concern since the media was using it to bash Trump.
Turkey want the Kurds disarmed but this can all be handled by the Russia/Syria/Turkey security negotiations. The US has no cards to play & should just leave. They're in no position to make demands from anyone & their confused messaging is a liability.
(Old Spike)
"Bolton doesn't speak for Trump..."
HOW does he not? He speaks for and on behalf of the american government.
(Old Spike)
You're right. When Bolton travels on official government business he represents the government. When his statements contradict the president though it gets weird.
What I meant was that the policy hasn't changed just because Bolton announces it. Pompeo is the real foreign minister & so far he's stuck to the withdraw plan [source]. It'd be crazy to walk back the pull out after Trump released that video announcing it. He gave them 4 months to get out & I reckon he'll make it stick.
UPDATE: This column in a pro-AKP (Turkeish ruling party) publication shows how the Turks are onto Bolton's scheme. They call it a "soft coup against Trump".