The 'Legitimacy' sought in Washington... has it been found?!

The Erdoğan-Trump meeting, which took place on Thursday following an appointment obtained, in the words of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “almost by begging,” needs to be discussed for months, if not years.

Yes, previous US visits have always resulted in returning with a stack of “homework,” but this time it is truly very different.

Trump saying, “He (referring to Erdoğan, not Turkey) needs some things, and we need some things. And we will reach a conclusion”...

Demanding that Turkey stop purchasing oil and natural gas from Russia, which is not only an interference in our sovereign rights but also an assertion that “If I want it, he will do it”...

Saying that “Erdoğan will also do something for them” before making a deal regarding the F-35s...

And the fact that Erdoğan did not utter a single word on these matters is more than enough!..

NEVER-ENDING SEARCHES

It has been written and discussed extensively that since the day the AKP came to power, it has sought refuge from the “wrath of Ankara” in the “intercession” of Brussels and Washington.

During his time in opposition, MHP Leader Bahçeli also never minced his words on this subject and, for example, frequently emphasized the following:

“The AKP government, which has completely left its power, politics, and direction to the winds of foreign powers, has lost its national character and legitimacy... It is no longer possible for the government to find the identity it lost in Washington, Brussels, Erbil, and Yerevan, and the legitimacy it seeks, in the capital Ankara, the center of our National Struggle, and under the roof of the Parliament.”

“The coming period will be a period in which the AKP, which has mistaken seven years of concessions and surrender, traveling from capital to capital, and showing off at meetings for foreign policy, will be completely squeezed into a narrow space and its unprincipled politics, which are open to impositions, will be seen with all its reality... The point to which the wrong relations maintained with global powers and the global projects aspired to have brought Turkey is known to the public.”

“Despite all these unilateral concessions given by seeing the acquisition of legitimacy as homework, despite all this submission, which problem has been solved, rightly or wrongly, in seven years?”

Fine, at that time they saw the “tutelage” of the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces), the “oligarchy” of the judiciary, and the “nationalist CHP with the nationalist MHP” as obstacles to reaching the “destination.” After settling all these with the support of the US-EU and creating a rose garden without thorns, what “legitimacy” are they still chasing?!

THE COLONIAL GOVERNOR MOCKED OUR INTELLIGENCE AGAIN

Our topic is the recent revelation regarding “legitimacy” by Tom Barrack, a real estate agent friend of Trump who holds the titles of Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy to Syria.

One day before the Erdoğan-Trump meeting, at a panel titled “Shaping America’s Role in the World,” after stating that they had been dealing with issues like the S-400s, F-35s, and F-16s for 10 years, he announced that Trump had introduced a new approach to overcome the controversial topics between the two countries. He explained this new approach as follows:

“Our President said, 'I'm tired of this, let's take a bold step in terms of relations and give him what he needs.' When I asked, ‘Okay Mr. President, what does he need?’, he said, ‘legitimacy.’ He is a very smart person. The issue is not borders, the S-400s, or the F-16s. The issue is legitimacy.”

He continued as follows:

“[Erdoğan] has reached the age of 71. [Turkey] is a democracy, but it's like an authoritarian one. President Trump ingeniously said, 'I should give him legitimacy as a solution.' This is what is happening right now. I think you will see big changes as a result of this.”

THE ''RESPECT'' AND ''DON'T BE A FOOL'' LETTER

Ankara, as it did in previous instances, ignored and turned a blind eye to this insolence of the colonial governor. However, whether as a result of reactions or back-channel diplomacy, Barrack tried to correct his words.

He meant “respect” with the expression “legitimacy”!..

Come on, let's put “respect” in the places where “legitimacy” appeared in his previous statement and look at the result.

Trump said that Erdoğan needs “respect,” and that the issue is not borders, the S-400s, or the F-16s, but “respect,” is that so?

Well, isn't it Tom Barrack himself who said, “Our President admires everything Turkey has done for us and for NATO” while making the correction?

Moreover, didn't Trump shower him with compliments during the meeting, such as “Erdoğan is a very respected person in the world... Everyone respects Erdoğan... He is a very respectable President... It is an honor to host him at the White House”?

Putting all that aside; hasn't the pro-government media been painting a “world leader” profile for Erdoğan for years? If this is the situation, isn't it very strange to look for “respect” in Washington?

Let's move past that too; what shall we do about the words in the second part of Tom Barrack's statement?

Erdoğan is 71 years old... Turkey is a democracy, but it's like an authoritarian one... And the solution is to “give him respect,” is that so?!

If “respect is being given” to Erdoğan, shouldn't the first order of business be to throw in the trash the letter Trump wrote in 2019 to stop the Operation Peace Spring, which he still displays at the bar of his hotel, saying, “I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy. Don't play the tough guy. Don't be a fool.”?

IS THIS THE ''LEGITIMACY'' SOUGHT?

As is known, another scene left its mark on the Erdoğan-Trump meeting.

While talking about the election he lost in 2020, Trump pointed to Erdoğan and said, “He knows rigged elections better than anyone.”

While the majority interpreted these words as referring to the elections in Turkey, the pro-government media argued that this was a “perception operation” and that Trump was referring to his own election.

Very well, if so, then it is so.

However, Okan Müderrisoğlu, the Ankara Representative of the pro-government newspaper Sabah, who went to the US with Erdoğan, shared such a note yesterday about the conversation the two leaders had while touring the Rose Garden at the White House...

While Trump was explaining that he would have a thousand-person event and reception hall built on two thousand square meters there, and that he would invite Erdoğan as a guest of honor to the opening 2 years later, he said:

“You don't have an election on that date, do you? Although it doesn't matter, even if there were an election, you would win.”

While it is being discussed in Turkey that Erdoğan cannot be a candidate again unless an early election is called, or that he cannot win even if he is a candidate, what can one say to this prediction of Trump's—which is more than just a wish and hope!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 29, 2025