Turkish government ally Devlet Bahçeli said on Monday that US President Donald Trump has gone over the limit and does not listen what he says and that therefore “nothing about him is to be taken seriously,” in response to a row between the US and Turkey, according to the T24 news website.
“He speaks via Twitter, but he can’t read what he writes,” Bahçeli told journalists, during a visit to a monument dedicated to “Grey Wolf martyrs” before the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha, which starts on Tuesday.
Turkey’s relations with the US became further strained after a court decision to put American pastor Andrew Brunson under house arrest after almost two years of imprisonment on “terrorism” charges.
US President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence openly urged Turkey to release the pastor, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government labeled these calls an “attack” on the sovereignty of the Turkish state.
“The Turkish Republic remains strong in this case. The US will do whatever Turkey wants here. I believe that,” Bahçeli said.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Bahçeli and President Erdoğan have been allies since a referendum in 2017 that introduced an executive presidency in Turkey. Bahçeli’s party backed Erdoğan’s presidential re-election bid in the elections on June 24.