Tag: Turkey

Giuliani Pressed for Turkish Prisoner Swap in Oval Office Meeting

New York Times logoDuring a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017, Rudolph W. Giuliani pressed for help in securing the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey.

The request by Mr. Giuliani provoked an immediate objection from Mr. Tillerson, who argued that it would be highly inappropriate to interfere in an open criminal case, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

The gold trader, Reza Zarrab, had been accused by federal prosecutors of playing a central role in an effort by a state-owned Turkish bank to funnel more than $10 billion worth of gold and cash to Iran, in defiance of United States sanctions designed to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

View the complete October 10 article by Jo Becker, Maggie Haberman and Eric Lipton on The New York Times website here.

Donald Trump’s longtime business connections in Turkey back in the spotlight

The president’s decision to remove troops from Northern Syria has put renewed focus on his relationship with Turkish President Erdogan.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to pull U.S. troops out of Northern Syria late Sunday night has drawn harsh rebukes from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, raised alarm bells among America’s allies across the globe and sent the Pentagon and the State Department scrambling to contain the fallout.

While the president has defended the decision as part of his longtime promise to end U.S. military involvement in the region, even his staunchest supporters at home warned that it has essentially given Turkey a green light for a major military offensive against the Kurdish minority there, a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State militant group and a longtime target of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The president has denied that the U.S. is abandoning the Kurds, tweeting on Tuesday that, “we may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters.”

View the complete October 9 article by Heidi Przybyla and Anna Schecter on the NBC News website here.

Trump seeks to distance himself from Turkish invasion of Syria

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday sought to distance himself from a Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, days after he drew bipartisan backlash for announcing U.S. troops would vacate the area.

“This morning, Turkey, a NATO member, invaded Syria. The United States does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea,” Trump said in a statement issued by the White House.

The president clarified that there are no American soldiers in the area where the Turkish incursion is taking place, and defended his efforts to pull U.S. forces out of the region, even as his strategy has faced relentless criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

View the complete October 9 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

Syria’s Kurds stand to lose all gains from US pullout

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s Kurds accused the U.S. of turning its back on its allies and risking gains made in the fight against the Islamic State group as American troops began pulling back on Monday from positions in northeastern Syria ahead of an expected Turkish assault.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to stand aside — announced by the White House late Sunday — infuriated Kurds, who stand to lose the autonomy they gained in the course of Syria’s civil war.

The Kurdish force pledged to fight back, raising the potential for an eruption of new warfare in Syria. “We will not hesitate for a moment in defending our people” against Turkish troops, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement, adding that it has lost 11,000 fighters in the war against IS in Syria.

View the complete October 7 article by Bassem Mroue and Suzan Fraser on the Associated Press website here.

A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman was possed on the New York Times website November 23, 2017:

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, notified the president’s legal team in recent days that they could no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation, according to four people involved in the case — an indication that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal.

Mr. Flynn’s lawyers had been sharing information with Mr. Trump’s lawyers about the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining whether anyone around Mr. Trump was involved in Russian efforts to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Continue reading “A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller”