Turkish opposition politicians have urged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to push back against US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who suggested that world leaders, including Erdoğan, were “begging” to meet with President Donald Trump during their visits to Washington.
Rubio made the comment in a Fox News interview on Tuesday a day after Erdoğan said in an interview on the same channel that Trump had failed to deliver on his promises to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Defending Trump, Rubio argued that other leaders, “including Türkiye by the way, are begging us to be involved,” adding that officials were calling to be included in meetings or to get “five minutes to shake the president’s hand.”
“The truth of the matter is that we have leaders – we have meetings going on today that we have leaders begging to be a part of it,” Rubio added.
The phrasing triggered outrage in Ankara, where opposition lawmakers accused Rubio of insulting Turkey and called on Erdoğan to respond while in the United States for the 80th UN General Assembly.
“Using the word ‘begging’ with reference to the Republic of Turkey is a breach of diplomatic courtesy and absolutely unacceptable,” said Oğuz Kaan Salıcı, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). “If Erdoğan remains silent, this will go down as a second ‘Don’t be a fool’ scandal,” he wrote.
He was referring to a letter Trump wrote to Erdoğan in 2019 during his first term in office in which he warned Erdoğan against a Turkish incursion into Syria.
“History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Trump told Erdoğan in the letter, which was released by the White House at the time.
Erdoğan described the letter at the time as “impolite,” saying, “We haven’t forgotten this, and it’s not right to forget. But our mutual respect prevents us from keeping it on the agenda.”
Ahmet Davutoğlu, leader of the opposition Gelecek (Future) Party and a former prime minister, accused Rubio of arrogance. “The Turkish president does not beg anyone for a meeting,” he said. “We expect Erdoğan to give this insolent figure the response he deserves in front of Trump in Washington,” he wrote on X.
Former Turkish ambassador to Washington and CHP lawmaker Namık Tan said Rubio’s comments exposed how far Turkey’s global standing had eroded. “We will see whether the so-called ‘world leader,’ who delivers fiery speeches at the UN, dares to respond to Rubio — or whether he will swallow this insult in order not to lose the White House meeting he managed to secure through Trump’s son,” Tan wrote.
Erdoğan, who attended a meeting on Gaza with Trump and Muslim and Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN summit on Tuesday, will also be hosted by Trump at the White House on Thursday.
It will be the first visit to the White House by Erdoğan since 2019, with former president Joe Biden having had a tense relationship with the Turkish leader he accused of autocratic behavior.
Erdoğan has so far not publicly addressed Rubio’s remarks.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), however, pushed back against the opposition’s criticism. AKP spokesman Ömer Çelik on Wednesday accused opposition politicians of acting as “political missionaries” for foreign powers, saying they rushed to amplify “baseless” statements made by outsiders. “The president is recognized globally as one of the foremost leaders for peace and diplomacy,” Çelik said.