Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in the terminal. In Turkey there are protests against the President, and a military conflict with Israel threatens in foreign policy. Erdoğan now gets backing from Donald Trump.
It is a moment when Donald Trump almost gets enthusiastic. “I have a great friend, his name is Erdoğan. I like him and he likes me,” said the US President in front of the cameras in the White House on Monday. “He is a tougher and clever guy.”
The situation was particularly explosive: In addition to Trump, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sitting at that time. He remained silent, looked without participation. While Trump started a song of praise to the President, who prayed to Allah at the end of March that Israel would be destroyed.
The government-friendly media in Turkey reported extensively about Erdoğan’s appreciation by the US President. Due to his warfare in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu has largely become an enemy image, despite the terror of Hamas against Israel.
The end of the shoulder between Trump and Erdoğan is not a surprise, because they currently have one thing in common: they are under massive pressure on the inside and foreign policy, and there are quite a few allies with which both are currently not in dispute. It also combines a common political style, a penchant for nationalism and imperialism. The US President hopes from Erdoğan to collaborate on the basis of personal loyalty and mutual use, not on the basis of western values or a common understanding of democracy.
That’s why Trump jumps aside to his Turkish counterpart. The US government is once again demonstrating that it has primarily sympathized with autocrats since Trump’s office in January. This is a difficult blow for the Turkish opposition.
Because in Turkey, Erdoğan is still facing massive protests after the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu. Hundreds of thousands take to the streets almost every day nationwide.
The Kemistical and Social Democratic CHP called for boycott until its presidential candidate İmamoğlu is free. For example, the Turkish companies should avoid government -related companies – and media that transferred Erdoğan’s press conferences in full length, but do not report on the protests. For the past Wednesday, a one -day shopping boycott was called.
video | Water cannon and tear gas: Location in Turkey escalated
This is a demonstration of power that can hit the battered Turkish economy hard. Because the foundation of the protests are predominantly young people who take the street despite threats and bans of the government. Erdoğan insults this as a “street terror” and has hundreds arrested. The boycott call is aimed at the people who are afraid of violence by the police and the judiciary. You can quieten your displeasure at the supermarket fund.
In this situation, the United States could have a major impact on the Turkish government. The US dollar is very important for Turkey because many imports such as oil or gas are paid in dollars. At the same time, Turkish companies and partly the state have taken up high debts in dollars.
Many Turks prefer to save in dollars instead of in Lira because the value of the domestic currency continues to decay. The result: If there were political conflicts between Turkey and the USA in the past, the lira continued to crash.
But not this week. If the US President had threatened his Turkish counterpart, the Lira course would probably not have remained stable. But Trump mentioned the protests in Turkey with no word. It is no coincidence that Trump wants to support Erdoğan: because he is certainly closer to a autocratic leadership in Turkey than a possible CHP government that sympathizes with the European Union. The CHP wants to move closer to the EU again, relies on multilateralism – and Trump rejects this.
