By David Boyajian
In his 2017 and 2025 inaugural addresses, President Donald Trump pledged to “Put America first.”
His 2017-2021 term, however, put Turkey and Turkish President Erdogan first. And his second term is looking even worse.
In Trump’s Turkish Problem (2022), I cautioned the would-be candidate to “ditch his Turkish investments, Turkish-tainted cronies, and Turkish fixation … in his and America’s best interests.”
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Besides being nakedly corrupt and repressive, Turkey’s rogue regime has cozied up to Moscow and supported ISIS, al-Qaeda offshoot Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and other terrorist organizations.
Hardly a day goes by when Erdogan isn’t throwing a temper tantrum, concocting outlandish demands, or threatening NATO members.
Yet somehow Trump’s a “big fan” of Turkey’s president. Erdogan “does things the right way.”
Corruption, repression, incessant threats, and supporting terrorism are “the right way”?
I’m “very close to [Erdogan],” Trump once declared. Way too close, actually.
His flattery of Erdogan has been a national embarrassment and has accomplished nothing.
Unfortunately, Trump admits to liking “tough guy” foreign leaders. That is, unsavory autocrats such as Erdogan.
Erdogan’s “tough, but I get along with him. And maybe that’s a bad thing, but I think it’s a really good thing.” And you thought Pres. Biden was confused.
All American presidents and top European leaders have for decades let Turkey intimidate them. Consequently, they’ve needlessly kowtowed to Turkey. But Trump takes the cake.
How contrary to American interests — and humiliating — was Trump’s Turkish record in his first term?
And no, I’m not a Trump hater.
Trump’s Terrible Turkish Resumé, in Brief
- Trump’s Conflicts of Interest and Turkish Agents
Trump’s self-acknowledged “little conflict of interest” regarding Turkey isn’t little.
Istanbul’s Trump Towers/Mall naming rights, for instance, have yielded him $10+ million.
Mehmet Ali Yalcindag, Trump’s partner in that venture, chaired the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAIK).
Yalcindag brokered contacts between Berat Albayrak (Erdogan’s corruption-riddled son-in-law) and Jared Kushner (Trump’s son-in-law/Middle East adviser).
TAIK employed (2013-2020) DC’s Mercury Public Affairs as its registered Turkish agent. Mercury also hired Trump’s communications sage, Bryan Lanza, to represent Ankara.
Another Turkish agent: Ballard Partners, headed by top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard. It maintains an Istanbul office.
Trump even engaged Turkish designer Dorya Int’l to manufacture the “ultra-luxe” Trump Home® line.
- Trump’s Silence after Erdogan’s Capital Rampage
After his White House meeting on May 16, 2017, Erdogan ordered his bodyguards to attack peaceful protesters outside his ambassador’s residence.
The mostly American demonstrators were bloodied. A number were hospitalized, and a policeman was injured. Elsewhere in DC, Erdogan’s retinue pummeled several U.S. Secret Service officers.
Trump & Erdogan (Credit: CounterCurrents.org)
Yet the administration permitted Erdogan and his thugs to immediately return to Turkey.
Though the U.S. House demanded prosecutions, only in August did the Department of Justice charge Erdogan’s bodyguards.
But the DOJ then shamelessly dropped the charges one day before Secretary of State Tillerson visited Ankara in 2018.
Silent throughout it all, Trump favored Erdogan’s long-lawless louts over peaceful Americans and the Secret Service.
Trump acted dishonorably and against America.
- Trump Jr.’s Turkey Trot
Following his father’s 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. flew off to Turkey to hunt “wild goats.”
Yalcindag reportedly chaperoned him.
Scurrying off post-election to bag goats in a rogue, ISIS-supporting country exemplifies the Trump family’s Turkish blind spot.
- Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Turkish Corruption
Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was a longtime Trump friend/surrogate and, in 2017, his cybersecurity adviser.
Giuliani worked at the Greenberg Traurig law firm from 2016 to 2018. It registered as a Turkish agent from 2017 to 2020.
In 2016, the DOJ indicted Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold dealer, for using Turkey’s Halkbank to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran. Halkbank — controlled by Erdogan — was/is a DOJ target too.
In 2017, Giuliani represented Zarrab in a meeting with Erdogan and pressured the DOJ to grant Erdogan’s wish to release Zarrab.
Trump solicited Sec. Tillerson to persuade the DOJ to scrap the Zarrab case. Tillerson refused.
The president also reportedly asked Attorney General Bill Barr to go easy on Halkbank.
Trump’s advocating for Zarrab/Halkbank, and allowing Giuliani to represent Zarrab while the DOJ was prosecuting him and Halkbank, were unethical.
The president put Turkey, not America, first.
- Trump Chooses Erdogan over U.S. Law and the Pentagon
Congress’ 2017 CAATSA law requires America to penalize those doing business with Russia’s defense industry. Having bought Russian S-400 missiles, Turkey’s been an obvious offender.
S-400s can spy on America’s F-35 jet technology. Consequently, the Pentagon had insisted on removing Turkey from the F-35 program.
Only in mid-2019, however, and after repeatedly making excuses for Erdogan, did Trump forbid Ankara from acquiring F-35s.
Moreover, he ignored CAATSA until late 2020 when he reluctantly penalized Turkey over its S-400s.
Choosing Erdogan over U.S. law and the Pentagon compromised American security.
America came in second, behind Turkey.
- National Security Advisor Michael Flynn‘s Turkish Escapades
Then-retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn advised Trump’s 2016 campaign and became Trump’s first National Security Advisor (NSA).
Flynn lasted just 22 days as NSA because he’d lied to VP Pence and the FBI about his conversations (December 2016) with Russian Ambassador Kislyak.
On July 15, 2016, Flynn publicly supported the attempted coup against Erdogan.
Yet, on November 8, 2016 (election day), Flynn publicly defended Erdogan by railing against alleged coup plotter Fethullah Gulen, the expatriate, Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric.
The probable reason for Flynn’s U-turn?
In the summer/fall of 2016, the Flynn Intel Group was paid $530,000 by TAIK Chair Kamil Ekim Alptekin to support Turkish interests. Though Alptekin was indicted as a Turkish agent in 2018, charges were later withdrawn.
Flynn registered retroactively as a Turkish agent in March of 2017.
Did Trump tap Flynn as NSA because of the latter’s ties to Turkey, TAIK, and Alptekin? It seems likely.
Trump pardoned (my “Great Honor”) lying Turkish agent Mike Flynn in late 2020.
- Trump Endorsed Turkish Citizen Dr. Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate
Dr. Mehmet Oz once hosted a popular TV show and holds dual Turkish-U.S. citizenship. He ran in Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate GOP primary.
Oz is liberal to moderate on abortion, gun control, and LGBTQ.
Oddly, though, Trump endorsed the carpet-bagging Oz over opponents Kathy Barnette (conservative) and Dave McCormick (moderate to conservative).
Trump had previously endorsed conservative Sean Parnell. When Parnell dropped out, Oz dropped in.
The American-born Oz served in the Turkish Armed Forces and voted in Turkey’s 2018 election.
Oz’s campaign disclosure omitted his New Jersey condominium, occupied by controversial Turkish nationalists.
Trump’s ex-Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, wanted Oz to explain the “scope and the depth of his relationship with the Turkish government.”
Oz, a favorite of Melania Trump, later lost to Democrat John Fetterman.
Did Trump endorse Oz because of their mutual reverence for Turkey?
- Trump Betrayed America’s Anti-ISIS Kurdish Partners
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remains an American partner after having sustained 11,000+ casualties fighting ISIS.
The SDF consists mainly of the Kurdish YPG. The rest are mixed, anti-ISIS Syrian militias.
Rifle with ISIS and Turkish flags (Credit: ModernDiplomacy.eu)
Erdogan asserts that the YPG is affiliated with the Kurdish PKK, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. However, Turkey itself sponsors ISIS, HTS, and other terrorists.
On October 6, 2019, Trump alerted Erdogan that American troops were withdrawing from the SDF’s stronghold. Trump thereby greenlighted Turkey’s assault on SDF just days later.
Turkey killed hundreds of SDF fighters and displaced at least 160,000 civilians, including Christians. And hundreds of ISIS members escaped SDF prisons.
Yet Trump recently claimed, disingenuously, that he “saved a lot of lives.”
Voting 354 to 60, the U.S. House rebuked the administration and Ankara.
Trump rationalized betraying Kurds: “They didn’t help us in WWII [and] Normandy.”
The remark was over-the-top, historically ill-informed. Turks may have fed Trump that nonsense. Ankara, incidentally, was pro-Nazi during WWII.
Abandoning the SDF damaged America’s “credibility and reliability,” warned retired U.S. General Joseph Votel.
During Turkey’s attack, Trump dashed off an amateurish letter telling Erdogan to “work out a deal.” Wrote Trump to his top tough guy, “Don’t be a tough guy.”
The letter was widely mocked — an “embarrassment,” “joke,” “prank,” “bizarre,” “nutty” — even by Republicans.
Despite Erdogan’s invasion and 2017 DC thuggery, the White House hosted him in 2019. Erdogan insulted Trump by handing him back the letter.
No, Trump didn’t put Turkey first every time.
In 2018, he eventually forced the release of American Pastor Andrew Brunson, abused and imprisoned by Erdogan on phony charges.
But that happened only because conservative Evangelical Christians pressured Trump.
Ongoing Problems with Erdogan
Pres. Trump’s current term is confronting ongoing problems with Turkey, including Erdogan’s:
- Support of ISIS, HTS, and other terrorists
- Coziness with Putin
- Extortionate claims over the Mediterranean
- Threats against Greece and Cyprus
- Threats against pro-U.S./pro-European Armenia
- Threats against Israel
- Halkbank troubles in Federal court
- Bid to acquire F-35s
- Massive corruption and repression
Unfortunately, Trump appears to be putting Erdogan/Turkey first once again.
Turkophile NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Pres. Trump will “look at pardoning” NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat with shady, wide-ranging ties to Turkey.
The Feds have indicted the mayor, formerly a Brooklyn Borough President, for wire fraud, bribery, and receiving illegal campaign donations, including from Turks and Turkish entities.
Adams’ extravagant, unreported trips to Turkey have totaled $123K+, funded partly by Turkish Airlines (49% government-owned).
A Turkish-born co-owner of Brooklyn-based KSK Construction Group pled guilty to illegally channeling, in cooperation with a Turkish consulate, contributions to Adams’ mayoral campaign.
Adams, an honorary faculty member at Turkey’s Bahcesehir University, has attended 80+ Turkish events over the years.
Azerbaijan’s regime paid for trips to its country for two Adams aides.
Like its Turkish ally, Azerbaijan is corrupt, repressive, and brazenly supports international terrorist organizations. Adams aspires to “retire” there.
The Trump Organization, and particularly Ivanka Trump, worked with Azeri oligarchs to build a hotel in Baku. Trump later dropped the project.
The president believes that the Feds have “persecuted” Adams because the mayor criticized Pres. Biden in 2024 for letting waves of illegal aliens into NYC.
Adams initially welcomed illegals to NYC, however, until they created major housing/financial/crime headaches.
After visiting Trump at his Florida golf course, Mayor Adams attended his inauguration three days later.
Pres. Trump — and probable-AG Pam Bondi, who worked for former Turkish agent Ballard Partners — would unwisely scar his presidency by letting Adams off the hook.
Mike Flynn: Liar and Former Turkish Agent
Recall that Mike Flynn, Trump’s first NSA, registered as a Turkish agent in 2017 only after exposure of that relationship.
And he resigned in disgrace for lying about his Russian contacts.
Yet “We’re going to bring you back,” Trump told Flynn in 2023.
At Mar-a-Lago last March, America’s Future PAC, chaired by Flynn, honored Trump as “America’s Champion For Children.” In December, Trump fundraised for America’s Future at the same venue.
For the president to “bring back” Flynn — even informally — would be a self-inflicted wound.
Dr. Mehmet Oz: Turkish/U.S. Dual Citizen
Trump reportedly regrets backing Dr. Oz in his failed 2022 Senate campaign.
Yet the president has nominated him to be Medicare/Medicaid chief.
The Senate must scrutinize what role the doctor’s fishy Turkish record played in Trump’s nominating Oz.
Erdogan’s Terrorist Invasion of Syria
Erdogan sponsored terrorist HTS’s overthrow of Syria’s government in early December.
Trump’s barely intelligible December 16 press conference proves that, alas, he’s still in thrall to Turkey’s “tough guy.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan being received by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) head Jolani in Syria
- HTS is “controlled by Turkey … that’s okay … another way to fight.”
It’s perhaps the first time a former/soon-to-be American president has publicly endorsed a State Department-designated terrorist organization. But that’s Trump and Erdogan for you.
- “Turkey’s the one behind it. He’s [sic] a very smart guy, they’ve [sic] wanted [Syria] for thousands [sic] of years, and he [sic] got it.”
Seljuk Turkish tribes originated in Central Asia. They arrived in the Middle East and Asia Minor only in the 11th century. Thus, Turks couldn’t have wanted Syria for “thousands of years.” Nor do they somehow deserve Syria now. Seems Trump has been listening to Erdogan’s bedtime stories.
- “Nobody knows what the final outcome is going to be in [Syria] … I believe it’s Turkey … He’s [sic] a very smart guy.”
Trump appears oblivious to the rights of Syrians themselves, including Christians, Kurds, and Yezidis.
And as Erdogan threatens to attack Syrian Kurds again, they remember Trump’s 2019 betrayal of them.
Israel, though, will surely also have a major say in Syria.
Addicts Can Be Cured
President Trump and his supporters claim he keeps his promises.
Yet he has put Turkey and Erdogan first, instead of the American people.
America’s so-called “Art of the Deal” president must stop letting himself be browbeaten and brainwashed not only by Erdogan’s bluster, braggadocio, and bullying but also by Trump’s Turkish-affiliated friends and certain sycophants in The Swamp/Deep State.
Pres. Trump’s addiction to Turkey and Erdogan is beyond intolerable.
Two suggestions to help the administration and the country:
- An intervention to break Trump’s addiction.
- Failing that, deprogramming.
As I wrote in 2022:
Trump must “ditch his Turkish investments, Turkish-tainted cronies, and Turkish fixation … in his and America’s best interests.”
David Boyajian’s usual foreign policy focus is the Caucasus. His work can be found at https://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian. 𝕏/Twitter: @Boyajian_Writer
February 2, 2025