In Turkey Versus Kurds Dispute, Trump Chooses The Side Where He Has A Condo Complex

LOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump’s abandonment of one of the United States’ strongest allies in the fight against Islamic State terrorists also happens to reward the authoritarian ruler of Turkey, where the U.S. president personally profits from the Trump Towers in Istanbul. “We’ve warned for years that Trump’s decision to hold onto his business empire, particularly the properties in places like Turkey, would one day lead to a national security decision shrouded by his conflicts of interest,” said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Monday that Trump’s decision had nothing to do with the Trump Towers Istanbul building complex. Apart from the Istanbul project, Libowitz said Turkish officials, including the trade minister, the defense minister and the ambassador to the United States, have made 14 separate visits to Trump’s hotel a few blocks from the White House since his inauguration. Robert Weissman, president of the liberal group Public Citizen, said it’s impossible to know whether Trump was guided primarily by his personal interest in his Istanbul project ― or, alternatively, by pressure from Erdogan based on keeping secret details about the murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by Saudi Arabian government assassins in Istanbul last year.