RTThu, 11 Aug 2016 16:54 UTC
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued an ultimatum to the US, saying
it must choose between Turkey and the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara believes was behind the failed July 15 coup attempt.
"Sooner or later the US will make a choice [...] Either the coup-plotting terrorist FETO [Gulenist Terror Organization, term used by non-Gulenists] or the democratic country Turkey. The [US] has to make this choice," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara on Wednesday, as quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
"
Those who follow the Pennsylvania-based charlatan who sold his soul to the devil, or Daesh [Arabic pejorative term for Islamic State/IS],
which shed Muslim blood, or the PKK that also has shed blood for 30 years to divide the country and the nation, will all lose in the end," the Turkish leader warned.
Comment: By focusing on Gulen and not directly implicating the U.S./CIA/NATO, Erdogan has a justification for poor relations without having to basically go to war with the U.S. In other words, by framing it in this way, the U.S. isn't off the hook, but Turkey avoids a direct retaliation with NATO and the U.S. that would just hurt Turkey even more than the attempted coup. Luckily for Turkey, they are not entirely isolated, and despite continuing disagreements with Russia over Syria, they do agree on some things.
TurkStream plans are in motion, for example:
"We told (the Russian side) that there are no problems with the Turkish Stream project. We've proposed to divide expenses on the construction of the pipeline's section crossing our territory into halves," the Turkish president told reporters after Tuesday's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
"As for the remaining part of the pipeline, a preliminary agreement has been reached regarding its financing on a 50-50 basis," said Erdogan.
Comment: By focusing on Gulen and not directly implicating the U.S./CIA/NATO, Erdogan has a justification for poor relations without having to basically go to war with the U.S. In other words, by framing it in this way, the U.S. isn't off the hook, but Turkey avoids a direct retaliation with NATO and the U.S. that would just hurt Turkey even more than the attempted coup. Luckily for Turkey, they are not entirely isolated, and despite continuing disagreements with Russia over Syria, they do agree on some things. TurkStream plans are in motion, for example: