O επικεφαλής της μειοψηφίας στην επιτροπή Εξωτερικών Σχέσεων της Γερουσίας, Γερουσιαστής Ρόμπερτ Μενέντεζ, με επιστολή του προς τον Σύμβουλο Εθνικής Ασφαλείας του Προέδρου Τραμπ, Ρόμπερτ Ο’Μπράιαν, ζητά να καταθέσει επίσημα στο Κογκρέσο μια σειρά εσωτερικών εγγράφων και επικοινωνιών τα οποία τεκμηριώνουν τη φύση και τις εθνικές επιπτώσεις των στενών σχέσεων του Προέδρου Τραμπ με τον Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν.
Το αίτημα του Δημοκρατικού γερουσιαστή έρχεται σε συνέχεια δημοσιευμάτων των δημοσιογράφων Μπομπ Γούντγουορντ και Κάρλ Μπέρνστιν, που εγείρουν πρόσθετα ερωτήματα σχετικά με την σχέση Τραμπ – Ερντογάν και την επιδεκτικότητά της σε πολιτική χειραγώγηση. Κι αυτό, εξαιτίας, όπως του καταλογίζει ο Γερουσιαστής Ρόμπερτ Μενέντεζ, της προκατάληψης του προέδρου Τραμπ με την προώθηση των προσωπικών και εκλογικών του συμφερόντων.
O γερουσιαστής Μενέντεζ, σύμφωνα με ανακοίνωση που εκδόθηκε από το γραφείο του, αναφέρει στην επιστολή του:
«Ενώ μπορεί να έχει αποδώσει προσωπικά για τον Πρόεδρο, αυτή η σχέση δεν λειτούργησε καλά για την εθνική ασφάλεια των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών, την χώρα στην οποία εξελέγη να ηγηθεί»,
Επισημαίνεται ότι σε ηχογραφήσεις που έγιναν για το βιβλίο του κ. Γούντγουορντ «Οργή» (Rage), ο Πρόεδρος Τραμπ είπε ότι «ταιριάζω πολύ καλά με τον Ερντογάν, παρόλο που δεν θα έπρεπε, γιατί όλοι λένε,« Τι φρικτός τύπος». Αλλά, ξέρετε, για μένα λειτουργεί καλά.»
Στην ανακοίνωση σημειώνεται ότι ζητώντας από τον Λευκό Οίκο να παραδώσει αρχεία για κάθε επαφή μεταξύ Τραμπ και Ερντογάν, ο γερουσιαστής Μενέντεζ επισημαίνει την άρνηση του Αμερικανού προέδρου να επιβάλει τις εκ νόμου οριζόμενες κυρώσεις προς την Τουρκία για την αγορά του πυραυλικού συστήματος S400 από την Ρωσία, καθώς και την αδράνεια του προέδρου μετά από την μετατροπή από τον Ερντογάν της Αγίας Σοφίας και της Χώρας, από μουσεία σε τζαμιά. Αναφέρεται επίσης στην αποτυχημένη εκστρατεία του Λευκού Οίκου να μπλοκάρει νομοθεσία που παρουσίασε ο Μενεντέζ, για την επίσημη αναγνώριση της Γενοκτονίας των Αρμενίων εκ μέρους του Κογκρέσου των ΗΠΑ, καθώς και στην παρέμβαση του Τραμπ σε έρευνες των αμερικανικών αρχών κατόπιν εντολής του Ερντογάν.
O γερουσιαστής Μενέντεζ, αναφέρει στην επιστολή του προς τον Σύμβουλο Εθνικής Ασφαλείας του Αμερικανού προέδρου:
«Στο καθένα από αυτά τα παραδείγματα, οι θέσεις του προέδρου Τραμπ, ή η σιωπή του, φαίνεται ότι επηρεάστηκαν μάλλον από τη σχέση του με τον Πρόεδρο Ερντογάν ή από τα προσωπικά του συμφέροντα στην Τουρκία, αντί να επικεντρωθούν στην προώθηση των συμφερόντων εθνικής ασφάλειας των ΗΠΑ»,
Ολόκληρη η επιστολή του Γερουσιαστή Μενέντεζ πιο κάτω:
Dear Mr. O’Brien:
I write regarding President Trump’s engagement with Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. I have repeatedly raised concerns about President Trump’s relationship with President Erdo?an, including its impact on U.S. national security and on the proceedings against Halkbank over its sanctions violations.[1] Recent reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein has only reinforced my concerns.
In audio recordings made for Mr. Woodward’s book Rage, President Trump said that “I get along very well with Erdo?an, even though you’re not supposed to because everyone says, ‘What a horrible guy.’ But, you know, for me it works out good.”[2]
While it may have worked out for the President personally, this relationship has not worked out well for the national security of the United States, the country he was elected to lead. I would like to highlight three examples:
First, under President Trump’s leadership, Turkey purchased an S400 air defense missile system from Russia in clear violation of U.S. sanctions. Though the system was delivered more than a year ago and tested on American produced fighter jets, President Trump has yet to impose sanctions on Turkey for this behavior. This passive approach has emboldened Turkey, threatened the cohesion of NATO and endangered the security of countries in the region, including Israel, Greece and Cyprus.
Second, earlier this year, President Erdo?an ordered that Hagia Sophia and the Kariye museums be converted into mosques. These two historic and sacred sites hold deep religious and historical importance to the Christian orthodox community throughout the world. I am very disappointed that President Trump’s influence with President Erdo?an apparently did not extend to preventing these affronts to Christianity from taking place. President Trump’s Ambassador to Ankara visited Hagia Sophia soon after its conversion, sending a clear message of acquiescence to President Erdo?an.
Third, I was proud to lead the Senate last December in adopting a resolution that recognized the Armenian Genocide. For too long the United States has ignored the truth, which has hampered our credibility in calling out similar crimes that have taken place around the world. This historic resolution passed by unanimous consent and finally put the U.S. Senate on the record as accepting the facts of this terrible crime. The resolution faced strong opposition by the White House and President Erdo?an. In fact, at the behest of the White House, three separate Senators objected on the floor of the Senate to earlier efforts to pass the legislation.
In each of these examples, President Trump’s positions or silence appears to have been swayed by his relationship with President Erdo?an, or his own personal interests in Turkey, rather focused on promoting U.S. national security interests.
And there is good reason to believe that this is the case. According to a June 29, 2020 CNN article by Carl Bernstein, President Trump was reportedly susceptible to being taken advantage by leaders such as President Erdo?an, in part because he was focused on pursuing his own personal and electoral interests in these calls and bypassed normal protocols.[3] In one specific example, Mr. Bernstein wrote that:
[D]eleterious US policy decisions on Syria — including the President’s directive to pull US forces out of the country, which then allowed Turkey to attack Kurds who had helped the US fight ISIS and weakened NATO’s role in the conflict — were directly linked to Erdogan’s ability to get his way with Trump on the phone calls.[4]
The withdrawal from northern Syria and subsequent Turkish invasion damaged our national security by further undermining our credibility with partners and allies worldwide, fueling ISIS jailbreaks, and endangering the lives of U.S. service members as well as our Kurdish partners. The American people deserve to understand how and why this dangerous policy was developed.
Mr. Bernstein also referenced an allegation from former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book that “at Erdogan’s urging, Trump offered to interfere in an investigation by then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman into the Turkish bank [Halkbank], which was accused of violating US sanctions on Iran.” This is not the first time such disturbing allegations have been made about the President’s willingness to interfere in U.S. law enforcement investigations at Erdo?an’s behest; and since these revelations, Berman was abruptly fired.[5] It is critical that we understand why President Trump is trying to undermine one of the largest Iran sanctions evasion cases in history, and how conversations with President Erdo?an may have influenced those efforts.
Fortunately, records that may address these troubling allegations appear to exist. As Mr. Bernstein reported,
Despite the lack of advance notice for many of Erdogan’s calls, full sets of contemporaneous notes from designated notetakers at the White House exist, as well as rough voice-generated computer texts of the conversations…there are also existing summaries and conversation-readouts of the President’s discussions with Erdogan that might reinforce Bolton’s allegations against Trump in the so-called “Halkbank case”.
Given the grave national security interests at stake, I request that you provide the following no later than September 30, 2020:
1. A complete list of all calls that have taken place between President Trump and President Erdo?an, including
a. Call dates and times;
b. Whether they were arranged through the normal National Security Council protocols or otherwise planned in advance;
c. Subjects covered on each call, including whether Halkbank was discussed; and
d. Who listened in on each call.
2. All background memoranda, notes, or other preparatory documents prepared for the President Trump ahead of said calls.
3. All contemporaneous notes by White House, National Security Council, and State Department notetakers from said calls.
4. All voice-generated computer texts of said calls.
5. All summaries and conversation readouts of said calls.
6. Your detailed written recollections of all calls between President Trump and President Erdo?an to which you listened, and of any statements that you made at the time in relation to President Trump’s comments during the conversation (e.g., agreeing, disagreeing, noting the danger they posed to U.S. national security, or other).
For any documents that may require a classified response, please contact Committee Democratic staff to arrange an appropriate production. Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and I look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
