Erdogan 'played' Trump and lied to him on Syria, former Trump advisor McMaster says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "played" Donald Trump and convinced him that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be the inevitable winner of the Syrian civil war, according to a new book by Trump’s former national security advisor, HR McMaster.
McMaster, who served the former president between 20 February 2017 and 9 April 2018, wrote in his recently released book, At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House" that Erdogan constantly pushed Trump to withdraw US forces from parts of northern Syria to allow Turkish forces to remove Syrian Kurdish armed elements.
In a phone call on 24 November 2017, Erdogan told Trump that there was no longer justification for US support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) because the Islamic State group had been defeated.
“Like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, Erdogan also portrayed Assad as the inevitable winner in the Syrian Civil War to garner Trump's approval for a Turkey-Iran-Russia-brokered end of the war,” writes McMaster, referring to the conversation between the two presidents.
“Trump knew that what he was hearing were falsehoods, but Erdogan, like Putin, had figured out how to play to Trump's distaste for sustained military operations in the Middle East. Erdogan described continued arms transfers to the SDF as a 'waste of money.'"
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McMaster claims Erdogan “lied” to Trump to prevent the development of a Kurdish army that might seek independence in Syria and lay claim to parts of eastern Turkey long sought by Kurdish nationalists.
“Putin and Erdogan were playing Trump”, he wrote. “If I allowed this situation to go unchallenged, I would be derelict in my duty as national security advisor.”
McMaster also notes that both Putin and Erdogan saw him as an impediment to their relationship with Trump.
"Aware that Trump and I were on the outs, Erdogan suggested that I had delayed their conversation. Trump scowled at me from behind the desk," he said, referring to another phone call between the leaders on 22 March 2018.
McMaster also alleges that Trump himself misled Erdogan from time to time.
'Ridiculous'
In the phone call on 24 November 2017, Erdogan, according to McMaster, described continued arms transfers to the SDF as a waste of money.
“Trump fell for it. ‘You're right, it is 'ridiculous,’ [Trump told Erdogan]," the book reported.
"'I told General McMaster no weapons to anyone, now that it is over. I told General McMaster that to his face!'"
McMaster says, on the contrary, Trump had never ordered him to stop the delivery of weapons.
Erdogan in the same phone call complained about McMaster again, accusing him of delaying the phone call.
'Trump responded that he would give Erdogan a personal phone number so he could reach him anytime'
- HR McMaster
“Trump responded that he would give Erdogan a personal phone number so he could reach him anytime,” McMaster wrote.
The two countries' relationship was rocky at the time over a set of disputes on Syria, Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defense system S-400s, and the imprisonment of the American Pastor Andrew Brunson on charges of plotting against the Turkish government.
With this background, McMaster traveled to Istanbul on 10-11 February 2018, meeting then-Turkish presidential advisor Ibrahim Kalin and then intel chief Hakan Fidan.
Following the meetings, McMaster suggests to the White House leadership that Washington should refine its Turkey strategy with an emphasis on “the modest objective of avoiding a complete breakup” and developing contingency plans for the worst-case scenario, including the relocation of US military assets currently in Turkey.
"I suggested that we refine our Turkey strategy with an emphasis on the modest objective of avoiding a complete breakup while developing contingency plans for the worst-case scenario, including the relocation of US military assets currently in Turkey," he wrote.
Although not specified by McMaster, he was likely referring to the nuclear arsenal that exists in Turkey’s Incirlik air base, which hosts 50 B61 nuclear bombs.
“Years later, when Erdogan would say after the horrible attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023, that Hamas was not a terrorist organization but a "liberation group," he wrote.
"I thought it might be time for the NSC to dust off that plan."
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