FOREIGN DIGNITARIES/KURDS/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “U.S. President Donald Trump warned Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a letter about Turkey’s incursion into Syria, ‘Don’t be a tough guy’ and ‘Don’t be a fool!’ The Oct. 9 letter was released by the White House on Wednesday as Trump battled to control the political damage following his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria, clearing the way for the Turkish incursion against America’s Kurdish allies. The letter tried to persuade Erdogan to reverse a decision to invade Syria that Erdogan told Trump about in an Oct 6 phone call. ‘Let’s work out a good deal!’ Trump said. ‘You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy – and I will.’”
–Steve Holland, “Trump warned Erdogan in letter: ‘Don’t be a tough guy’ or ‘a fool’,” Reuters, October 16, 2019 2:04 pm