Turkey angry at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over comments comparing Trump to Erdogan

Turkey’s top diplomat on Friday condemned US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “blatant ignorance” for suggesting President Donald Trump was trampling on democracy as if he were in Turkey. Trump indicated on Wednesday he might not honour the results of the November 3 presidential election, repeating his claim — widely decried as unfounded — that a surge in mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic could delegitimise the poll. His comments created a firestorm in Washington, with Pelosi telling the US leader: “You are not in North Korea, you are not in Turkey, you are not in Russia, Mr. President.”

Both Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top press aide took exception with Pelosi’s suggestion that Turkey was not a fully democratic state. “@SpeakerPelosi’s rise to become Speaker of the House is what is truly worrisome for American democracy, given her blatant ignorance,” Cavusoglu posted on Twitter in English. “You will learn to respect the Turkish people’s will,” he said, also tagging Trump’s Twitter handle.

Pelosi also accused Trump of admiring Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader’s top press aide, Fahrettin Altun, called Pelosi’s remarks “careless”. “It’s against the US national interest and  the spirit of an alliance to denigrate Turkey in an attempt to score domestic political points,” he tweeted. Altun then asked Pelosi in English: “When was the last time that there was no peaceful transfer of power in Turkey — with the exception of military coups? “And we remember who supported those attacks against Turkish democracy, too,” he said in a thinly-veiled reference to  former US administrations.

The Turkish military staged three coups in 1960, 1971 and in 1980. Erdogan’s government was also targeted by an  attempted military takeover in 2016 that he has blamed on US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Trump’s rival Joe Biden has also fallen out of favour in Ankara for calling Erdogan an “autocrat” in an interview filmed by the New York Times in December, a video of which only appeared last month. Biden criticised the Turkish leader’s policies towards the Kurds and said Washington needed to “embolden” his rivals to allow them “to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process.”

Erdogan has been in power since 2003, when he was elected prime minister. In 2014, he became president after winning Turkey’s first direct elections for head of state, and has since developed a close working relationship with Trump. Despite being criticised by opponents as an authoritarian leader, Erdogan has never lost an election since his ruling Justice and  Development Party came to power in 2002, and his victories have never been disputed.

By Fulya OZERKAN, AFP