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2018年8月13日星期一

美國與土耳其關係到達歷來最低點的真正原因

美國與土耳其關係到達歷來最低點的真正原因
The Real Reason Why US-Turkey Relations Have Hit an All-Time Low
Aug 12, 2018
Over the past week, US-Turkey relations have hit an all-time low, but how did these two allies end up at odds with each other?
(GPA Op-ed) — If you’ve been watching the news over the past week you may think the current hostility between Washington and Ankara is about the US pastor, Andrew Brunson. Brunson, who has been in police custody or under house arrest in Turkey since October 2016, has now apparently become a high priority for the Trump Regime.

But why did this take so long? Vice President Mike Pence has known about Brunson since day one of the administration thanks to his ties to the US evangelical community but neither he or the President have previously expressed this level of outrage. There have already been low key talks between Washington and Ankara in the past concerning the return of Brunson to the US, but what the Western media isn’t reporting now is how these talks to return a US national fit into the bigger geopolitical picture of US-Turkey relations.

Andrew Brunson and Fethullah Gulen: “A Pastor for a Pastor”
Behind the general request by the US to return Andrew Brunson is a several-year-long process involving several closed-door meetings about the pastor between US and Turkish officials. During all of these meetings, the US demand was the same as it is now, but they weren’t the only one who wanted something out of the negotiations.

You aren’t hearing much about Ankara’s demands right now but Turkish President Recep Erdogan has previously said he would be willing to return the US pastor in exchange for Turkey’s own expat “pastor,” Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan made this perfectly clear at a rally for Turkish police officers in March, saying that the trade should be a no-brainer since “the one that we have [in our hands – Brunson] is being tried, the one you have [in your hands – Gulen] is not being tried.”

Gulen is the exiled cleric and former-Erdogan ally alleged to be behind a failed coup in July 2016 with supposed US assistance. Turkey has been asking for the return of Gulen since before the dust even settled after the coup attempt but the US has so far refused to extradite the charter-school magnate and religious leader.

Ankara has allegedly even proposed some potential illegal schemes to get Gulen back, including one which may have involved former Trump aide Michael Flynn kidnapping the cleric and returning him to Turkey for $15 million. These kinds of strategies have become commonplace for Turkey which has been accused of kidnapping “terror suspects” around the world since the failed coup.

Brunson is alleged to be an ally of Gulen and is said to be guilty of “gathering state secrets for espionage, attempting to overthrow the Turkish parliament and government, and to change the constitutional order” in participation with the Gulenists as well as “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” the Kurdish separatist terror organization, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Brunson has denied these charges in court, saying “My service that I have spent my life on, has now turned upside down. I was never ashamed to be a server of Jesus, but these claims are shameful and disgusting,” and that all he wants is “to return to my home.”


https://theantimedia.com/us-turkey-relations/

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