Trump has stated that if he were not in office, Turkey would have entered into war against Israel.

US President Donald Trump has announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wanted to join military operations against Israel during American-Israeli military actions against Iran, but he did not do so at his request. 

According to Armenpress, this was stated by US President Donald Trump before the plenary session of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8 during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. APT News has released a video of their conversation.

Trump noted that he does not like the leaders of some countries, but he likes Erdoğan, who organized a very high-level reception in Ankara. The US president also mentioned that he likes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, however, has made harsh comments about Turkey. “Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) made several harsh comments about Turkey and Erdoğan yesterday. I spoke to him and said that he could have entered the war because he doesn’t like Israel that much and doesn’t like Netanyahu. However, he did not do so at my request. Turkey is a very powerful country militarily.

It has millions of soldiers. Turkey is very strong. They have many of our best equipment. They are trying to acquire F-35 aircraft. But he did not enter the war. He wanted to enter, and if it weren’t for me, he would have entered this war. And he would be on the opposite side,” Trump said. He added that Turkey has behaved well with the US during the war against Iran. According to Trump, China has also behaved well.

In an interview with CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the supply of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey by the US, stating that it “would disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East” and would not make Ankara “a friend of the United States.”:

* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).