In a Monday (May 5) telephone call between the two leaders, US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan exchanged invitations for official visits.
Following the telephone meeting, Trump shared a post on his Truth Social platform:
| Trump and Erdoğan exchange invitations in phone call |
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| Trump and Erdoğan exchange invitations in phone call |
Erdoğan also mentioned the call in a social media post, saying:
“In my conversation with President Trump, I emphasized that I appreciated his efforts to end the various conflicts in our region, and that Turkey is ready to play a role in establishing a lasting peace. I also expressed my hope to host the president in the near future, and he also invited our delegation to visit him in the US. I hope to meet with him as soon as possible, so that we can hold a meeting beneficial for both of our countries.”
Trump’s post mentions Pastor Brunson affair
Trump’s post Monday evening describing the telephone conversation with Erdoğan also mentioned the scandal involving Pastor Andrew Brunson from the president’s first term in office in 2018.
Trump frequently mentions the Brunson affair in posts concerning Erdoğan, in which he points to the event as an example of US-Turkish cooperation.
Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical pastor who had lived in İzmir in western Turkey for 23 years, was arrested in 2016 and held without trial for over a year by Turkish authorities on suspicions of being a member of the Gülen Movement (FETÖ), a group classified by Erdoğan’s government as a terrorist organization and accused of orchestrating 2016’s failed coup d’etat attempt.
In 2017, attempts were made by Turkey to arrange a prisoner swap involving Brunson and FETÖ leader Fethullah Gülen, who was residing in Pennsylvania. The offers were rejected by US officials based on insufficient evidence of Gülen’s alleged involvement in the coup attempt. Gülen continued living in Pennsylvania until his death in 2024.
Following a tit-for-tat exchanging of tariffs between Washington and Ankara, as well as Brunson’s conviction in Turkey on charges of aiding terrorism, the pastor was returned to the US by Turkish officials in 2018. The ordeal was seen as a strategic win for Trump, who was not forced to give up Turkish prisoners held in the US in exchange for the pastor’s release.
In a later dispute between the US and Turkey in 2019 concerning Turkish military intervention in Syria, Trump sent an open letter to Erdoğan saying:
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“Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy–and I will. I’ve already given you a little sample with respect to Pastor Brunson.”
Several pro-government news outlets in Turkey translated Trump’s Monday message, while omitting the US President’s mention of the Brunson affair.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
