(AP) – Ozgur Ozel said Trump would be the only visiting U.S. president not to pay his respects at the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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He said every visiting U.S. president since Eisenhower in 1959 had gone to the monument to honor Ataturk, who remains a revered figure in Turkey.
Talking about Trump’s welcome, Ozel said the president should be greeted by children “holding pictures of the 165 girls killed in Iran” – a reference to an airstrike on a school at the start of the Iran war.
Ozel was removed as head of the Republican People’s Party by court order last May. However, many believe the ruling was politically motivated and still consider him the de facto opposition leader.
Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden did not visit Turkey but he did lay a wreath at Ataturk’s tomb as vice-president in 2011.
While Ataturk might be revered by many Turks I highly doubt Erdrogan would be one of them.
Ataturk not only modernised Turkey, he also separated mosque and state.
Until Erdrogan’s rise to power Turkey was a modern secular state whose citizens practiced Islam..
he is not wise to oppose Trump