by Jack
A worsening dispute between the United States and Turkey reverberated through the global economy on Friday, hastening a broad flight of money from emerging markets and sowing instability throughout the Middle East. It’s due to the radical Muslims in power that jailed an American Pastor, Andrew Brunson (see picture on left), 21 months ago on phony charges following an attempted coup by Turkish military leaders. They (military leaders) were concerned about President Erdogan’s virtual dictatorial regime that had repeatedly violated their nation’s Constitution. For decades Turkey had been known as a moderate Islamic country, with separation of religion and government begun by the great reformer Ataturk in the 50’s, but the government has become increasingly fascistic under Erdogan.
Anti-Trump liberals are calling this a horrible crisis and worry that Turkey might get mad at us! Heaven forbit… whatever will we do if they are offended? The libs say this so-called crisis was “accelerated by a hostile tweet from President Trump — flared over Turkey’s continued detention of an American pastor.” I doubt it. Remember during the Iraq war, when Turkey refused to let American forces disembark in their port so we could march on Baghdad? The Turk hardliners threatened to close down an American airbase inside Turkey if we didn’t play ball. That was a crisis, this is not. This is justice.
My, my, my, how times have changed. What Trump is doing now has Turkey in a cold sweat! Their shaky economy under the nutcase Erdogan is starting to show cracks and their government is rightly worried. Nobody in Turkey is threatening to shut down the American air force base this time, no, no no, in fact Turkey is looking for ways to appease America and get out of this mess of their own making.
Turkey’s economy is only the 17th largest in the world, but its problems are worsening as Mr. Trump’s trade war is rattling global commerce, damaging longtime alliances that were barely fair weather friends. They are finding out exactly how powerful America is when we mean business. Turkey is no match to us and Trump knows he’s got them. he’s playing hardball and I am thrilled to see this punk Erdogan get what’s coming.
So who is this alleged mastermind of treason, this Pastor Brunson? He’s an American, arrested in October 2016 in the purges occurring after the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt. Tens of thousands of Turkish military personnel, civil servants, educators, academics, dissidents, and journalists were arrested without charges. Brunson was arrested as a bargaining chip for the return of a Turkish dissident living in the US. Brunson is a nobody, a small-time evangelical pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant church with only 25 members. But, because he’s an American he’s become a pawn in Erdogan’s game to make a swap for the dissident in the USA. Trump’s not going for it and he has taken immediate, extraordinary actions to shove it right back in Erdogan’s face.
Erdogan sees himself as the head of the wished-for caliphate in the Middle East. He’s tightened controls on his people gradually, rather than abruptly. And his “bodyguard” thugs attacked and beat American citizens exercising their right to protest during his last visit to the US. Unfortunately, said thugs received no punishment.
Regarding the nosedive of the Turkish currency, Erdogan said “If they(the US) have their dollar, we have the people, we have Allah”
Erdogan can always ask Allah to open a bank and prop up Turkey’s currency . . . . .
No, Jack. We are not going to war over this either.
But you are going to explain to me what makes the bicyclists dimwits, and the pastor, not?
And when you are done with that, you can explain, or, maybe, just for a change … wonder … why Erdogan would expend economic and political capital over a “nobody”?