Turkish president #Erdogan's chief aide Yigit Bulut asks the US to stop sending its dogs and instead face #Turkey by itself, claims the US has no strength to fight against #Turkey in the region.
We do have a lot of friends in Turkey. Even after Erdogan's extensive purges. So don't let one Islamist empire-builder convince us that Turkey is lost.
And Turkey still needs America notwithstanding their bravado against a treaty ally.
But as I've mentioned before, I would quietly pull our nuclear warheads out of Turkey--just in case.
America may have supporters in Turkey, but Erdogan is calling the shots and he is foolish enough to think he is the new caliph.
UPDATE: The Turks indicate a desire to pull back from a full-blown assault on Syrian Kurds:
Turkey will tell U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson the two countries must repair damaged mutual trust, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, following a series of disagreements, especially over the Syria crisis.
Good. An imperfect ally is better than a perfect enemy.
UPDATE: Lord knows what they really want:
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned the United States to withdraw any American forces from the Syrian town of Manbij, vowing Turkish troops would expand a cross-border military operation to the key strategic hub.
Yeah, quietly pull our nukes out of Turkey. If Greece agrees, Crete would be a good alternative.
UPDATE: I don't think we're going to leave:
On the ground in Syria, the top U.S. general in the coalition fighting the Islamic State group pledged on Wednesday that American troops would remain in the northern Syrian town of Manbij despite Ankara's demands for a U.S. pullout.
If Turkey attacks, Turkey is no longer a NATO member for all practical purposes. While I wouldn't eject Turkey from NATO, I would reduce what we share with them in regard to intelligence and technology. For God's sake, don't sell them full-capability F-35s.
