Noting that the book includes misleading, one-sided and manipulative presentations of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s conversations with the US President Donald Trump, Altun said, “It is clear that the goal of these mischaracterizations and falsehoods are driven by domestic political considerations as well as personal gain. Turkey is not surprised by manipulations against our President Erdoğan but we will call out such misleading characterizations.”

Indicating that Erdoğan and Trump had expended great effort to repair and keep stable the US-Turkey relationship despite deep differences and despite some hostile voices toward Turkey in Washington, DC, Altun continued as follows:

“President Erdoğan, at every opportunity, clearly outlines Turkey’s priorities and advocates for them vigorously. He has done that on issues such as the FETO members’ extradition, the PKK/YGP and the Halkbank case both publicly and privately. These issues between the US and Turkey have been lingering since the Obama administration. In fact, President Trump has done a lot more listening to a key NATO ally than some of the previous administrations. We have seen it only natural for him to do so.”

Reminding that Erdoğan had worked with several US presidents in his tenures as Prime Minister and President, Altun noted the following:

“He has always been straightforward with them and said the same things privately and publicly. Fair and objective analysts attest to this fact. We find it reprehensible that former high-level officials attempt to use serious diplomatic conversations and efforts to resolve outstanding issues between allies like the US and Turkey for their domestic political agendas.

We are confident that the US-Turkey relationship will survive such efforts and even thrive at the end. President Erdoğan will continue his frank, honest, and straightforward conversations with the US President Trump.” (ILKHA)