“Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy—and I will. I’ve already given you a little sample with respect to Pastor Brunson,” the letter, dated October 9, 2019, opens.
Pastor Andrew Brunson is an Evangelical Presbyterian Church elder and pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson was arrested and imprisoned on October 7, 2016 as part of purges that followed a failed 2016 coup attempt. He was accused of helping America in the coup attempt by Turkish authorities and sentenced to be held.
President Trump sanctioned Turkey in July of 2018 in response to their refusal to release Brunson, and it marked the first time America had ever sanctioned a fellow NATO ally. As a result of the negotiations which followed, Brunson was moved to house arrest.
The letter continues, “I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down. You can make a great deal. General Mazloum is willing to negotiate with you, and he’s willing to make concessions that they never would have made in the past. I am confidently enclosing a copy of his letter to me, just received.
“History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”
President Trump defended his administration’s choice to pull American forces out of Northern Syria on Wednesday and Turkey’s resultant incursion of the area.
“Our soldiers are not in harm’s way, as they shouldn’t be, as two countries fight over land that has nothing to do with us. And the Kurds are much safer now. The Kurds know how to fight and as I said, they’re not angels,” President Trump said while meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in the Oval Office.
“But they fought with us. We paid a lot of money for them to fight with us and that’s OK. They did well when they fought with us. They didn’t do so well when they didn’t fight with us,” he said.
