Flynn’s Turkish [and Erdogan] Connection


Date posted: May 19, 2017

Daniel Larison

McClatchy offers up a damning report about Mike Flynn:

One of the Trump administration’s first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired – and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey, whose interests, unbeknownst to anyone in Washington, he’d been paid more than $500,000 to represent.

Flynn used his position as Trump’s top adviser on national security to affect U.S. policy in accordance with the preferences of the foreign government he was working for. It doesn’t matter that the government happened to be an ally–he was taking money as a lobbyist for another government while directly influencing U.S. foreign policy. This shows that Flynn was compromised from the very start of the transition, and it confirms that Trump was wrong to put him in such an important national security position.

The New York Times outdoes the McClatchy report:

Michael T. Flynn told President Trump’s transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case.

Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies.

The curious thing about the Flynn-Turkey connection is that it was a very badly-kept secret. Details of Flynn’s connection to a firm that worked on behalf of the Turkish government were known at least by mid-November, and there were hints that something fishy was going before that when he began singing Erdogan’s praises and demanding Gulen’s extradition.

Despite all this, Trump made Flynn his National Security Advisor knowing that he was suspected of working as an undeclared lobbyist for a foreign government, and then during the transition Flynn used his position to affect U.S. policy to suit the Turkish government’s preferences. This is a startling example of the Trump transition team’s vetting failure, and it underscores why Flynn’s removal from his position as National Security Advisor was a good thing for the country.

Source: The American Conservative , May 17, 2017


Related News

Wife: Jailed Former Prosecutor, Heavy Cancer Patient, Needs Urgent Health Care

Prosecutor Kuriş was detained over allegations over involvement into coup attempt despite he was in rest at home because of his serious sickness, cancer. However, the biased forensic medicine department has always issued reports claiming that Prosecutor Kuriş is eligible to stay in prison conditions.

Courts order corrections to gov’t media stories on Hizmet

Several courts have ruled against untruthful stories published or broadcast by media institutions close to the government about the Hizmet movement, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused of trying to undermine his government, but most newspapers and stations have not published the corrections as they should according to the rulings.

Modern authoritarianism

Freedom House publishes each year a report focusing on the levels of freedom in all countries compiled with complete methodological research. Its reports are accepted as reliable and are used by many political scientists in their work.

Local NGOs urge Georgian gov’t to avoid returning Turkish teacher back home

Eight non-governmental organizations have called on the Georgian government to refrain from returning detained Turkish teacher to back home where “he will be possibly subjected to political persecution, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. “[He] will have no access to fair trial,” said a statement, released on May 31.

The Gülen movement: advocators of interfaith activities in Turkey

To cover up the [corruption] investigations, the newspapers close to the government use many derogatory labels for the movement, such as “promoters of light or moderate Islam,” “the protestantization of Islam,” “collaborators and allies of foreign intelligence agencies,” and “Christian missionaries under an Islamic guise.”

Fortunately, we have not closed Gülen schools

Mehmet Ali Birand June 9, 2012 When I was invited to become one of the judges in the International Turkish Olympiad, I was initially surprised. I was also a bit embarrassed because I never considered myself to be an expert in Turkish songs and folk songs, but I could not turn the offer down because […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Pro-gov’t daily claims White House held special session on Gülen

Fethullah Gulen’s message in memory of Nelson Mandela

Turkey’s post-coup purge and persecution makes no exception for children

Turks in US Ditto: Dialogue

Gülen book finds wide readership in northern Iraq

Gulen Movement, civilian governments and the AK Party

Islamic scholars to discuss ‘Ijma’ at Istanbul symposium

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News