Call | Türkiye-U.S.

[Jay]

SECRET​

The secure communications center sat one floor below the Prime Ministry.

Three officers worked the consoles. Captain Elçin Sangu occupied the center position. A headset rested over her dark hair. One officer monitored the satellite link. The other watched the encryption terminal.

The clock on the wall reached the scheduled minute.

Sangu pressed her transmit key. "Washington Secure Communications. Ankara Government Communications. Authentication follows."

She read the authentication code from the card beside her console.

There was static, then an American voice. "Authentication matches. Stand by."

The satellite officer raised a hand without looking away from his display. "Link stable and encrypted"

Sangu nodded once. She changed her communication channel to the Prime Minister's office. "They're bringing them in."

Inside the adjoining office, the atmosphere was even quieter.

Prime Minister Ayşe Çiller stood beside her desk instead of sitting behind it. Several briefing folders lay open in front of her, covered in handwritten notes and highlighted passages. The first page summarized intelligence assessments regarding northern Iraq. Beneath it were diplomatic talking points prepared by the Foreign Ministry.

Sümeyye stood beside the desk, carefully reviewing the final briefing packet. "We've moved the proposals for the military bases here," she said softly. "If President LaFleur wants specifics, General Uzun can help guide you through them."

Çiller nodded absentmindedly. "I know."

She wasn't reading anymore. Her attention kept drifting toward the secure telephone resting on its cradle.

She had only spoken with an American president once before, but never one who had been in office only a matter of days. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the load she was dropping on the newly elected President. Surely trying to recover from a bitter election to have the Vice Presidency robbed.

Unfortunately, this introduction would not be accompanied by congratulations alone. Within minutes, she intended to inform the newly inaugurated President of the United States that Türkiye was preparing a major military operation into northern Iraq.

She exhaled slowly. "They're not going to like this."

"No," Sümeyye admitted. "But this is the type of thing that I am sure they would like to hear directly from you rather than on the news or some angry phone call from London or Ottawa.

Across the room, Chief of Staff Kaan Yaman sat on the leather couch against the wall, one ankle resting on the opposite knee. A notebook rested unopened in his lap as he read the intelligence bio on Lafleur.

General Nihat Uzun stood near one of the office windows with his hands clasped behind his back. He had just returned from the Southeast, overseeing the assembly of the joint task force.

The telephone remained on its cradle as it rang once. A light appeared beside the handset as Çiller picked it up.

Çiller picked up the receiver. "This is Prime Minister Çiller."

"One moment, Prime Minister." Captain Sangu said as she returned to the American circuit.

"Washington, Ankara is ready."

"Copy, Ankara." The American switch operator said as another brief pause followed.

Sangu listened as voices became faintly audible on the American end before disappearing again. "The President is ready."

Sangu pressed the transfer switch. "Prime Minister, you are connected."

A small green indicator illuminated beside the telephone. The room became perfectly still as Ayşe picked up the line.

Çiller tightened her grip on the receiver for only a moment before relaxing her hand.

"President Lafleur," she began, her voice warm despite the tension she felt inside, "Please allow me to congratulate you on your election. I appreciate your willingness to speak with me. I know you have many other things to address, many pressing."

 

[Odinson]

Secret​

Liam Bell, President LaFleur's Chief of Staff, opened one of the doors to the Oval Office as LaFleur a handful of aides followed in behind him. The newly appointed and freshly confirmed Secretary of State, Justin Franks, was right behind LaFleur.

"This is short notice, Mister Secretary. The President has other things on his agenda," Bell said as he walked into the room and stood in front of the Resolute Desk.

"Ankara said that it was urgent. They're our only potential friend in the Middle East besides Iran, and the Sinclair Administration had been working closely with them before he left office. I think this justifies an interruption," Franks replied.

LaFleur stopped by the grandfather clock in the Oval Office and looked at it for a few seconds, and then the rest of the room. He still hadn't gotten use to walking into the office, let alone associating it as his own. LaFleur snapped out of it and approached his chief of staff and new secretary of state.

"How do you say her last name again? C... Is it like Hollier?" LaFleur asked. Hollier was a Cajun French name. It was pronounced oh-yay.

"No sir, not even close," Franks replied as he looked at his watch. "We maybe have a minute before they're on. It's pronounced Çiller... Just call her 'Prime Minister' if you can't get it, sir."

"I can get it," LaFleur said as he sat behind the Resolute Desk and took out a legal pad to write on.

"What are you doing, sir?" Franks asked.

LaFleur looked at Franks and then at Bell. "I'm going to take notes during the call," LaFleur said.

"Mister President, at least six other people on our side will be taking notes for you, you don't have to do that," Franks said.

"Then one more person taking notes won't hurt, Justin. Let's get this ball on the road - do you think they're worried that we want to renegotiate our trade deal?" LaFleur asked.

A light started blinking on the secure landline that was on the Resolute Desk. Bell picked up the phone, confirmed something, pressed a button, and then set the phone back down, "The Prime Minister is ready, sir."

LaFleur looked at the phone for a second and then picked it up.

"Thank you, Prime Minister. I've won elections before, but I have to admit that it felt a bit different this time... I was supposed to be in another meeting right now, but my new Secretary of State explained to me how valuable of a partner Turkey has become and that you would only call so short notice like this if it was important. How can I help you?" he asked. This was the first phone call that LaFleur took from a foreign head of government. He was probably almost as nervous as Çiller was.

Jay

 

[Jay]

Ayşe's hands trembled a little as she held the receiver tightly. It wasn't until she heard Lafleur's voice that she softened her grip. "I appreciate the confidence your Secretary of State has put in our relationship, and I hope that we will live up to that confidence," Ayşe said with a pause. "Mr. President, as you might be aware, the current security situation in my country has declined rapidly. It might even concern you for me to acknowledge that in some parts of our country, we exert little to no control and instead, ravaging gangs of Kurdish militants and terrorists continually act with impunity."

Ayşe looked at a note that Sümeyye had passed her and read it quickly. "Our efforts to reestablish control over the Southeast have been bloody, and many police officers and soldiers have been martyred in an effort to put an end to this insurrection. We are working to tackle the PKK's financial and material support, which has reignited this phase of the conflict. Our Air Force and intelligence services have confirmed that the PKK is operating out of camps in the Qandil Mountains of Northern Iraq and that at least 20,000 fighters are present across Northern Iraq. The recent terror bombings in Ankara and Izmir were only possible due to a large PKK supply-chain operation, and everyday Turks are dying from these acts of terror."

Ayşe began gripping the receiver ever more tightly again. "I know this is a lot to throw onto you at the moment, and I apologize for doing so." She said honestly. "My cabinet met earlier today, and it has been agreed that the only recourse we have to put an end to this campaign of terror is to invade Iraq and dismantle the PKK's presence in the region. I like to believe that our two countries have developed a strong bond, and in the spirit of that bond, I felt compelled to inform you before you found out about this decision from your own intelligence agency or worse in the press room. I know that many countries still look up to the United States for global leadership, myself included. While I would be ashamed to ask your country to provide men and weapons, I do hope that I may ask you to give my government the necessary political cover to undertake this operation, as I know many will be hesitant to support the Turkish Government in light of the history we carry."

Pausing for a moment, Ayşe hesitated but proceeded upon hearing no response. "I know you will need to consult with your own advisors, and you have pressing matters of state to address. I am happy to answer any questions you may have or give you the time to process this information before you make any decisions. We do plan to move quickly as our air campaign has given us a window of opportunity that we seek to exploit."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Well, Prime Minister," LaFleur said, with some hesitation in his voice as he processed the information. "I am so very sorry that.. that things are in this state, in your country. I haven't seen chaos anywhere close to that where I am from since the Civil Rights movement. The United States condemns these attacks on your country, and the bloodshed that has occurred so far, to the highest degree. I wouldn't begin to advise you on how to fix problems within your own country, and I'm not sure that I could blame your government for ordering airstrikes in northern Iraq, but you want to commit Turkey's military to a ground invasion of northern Iraq? The logistical nightmare, the fortune to be spent, and the lives...

"Prime Minister, I'm going to be frank with you: I know that you and your government are under immense pressure to respond to these atrocities that have occurred, but the reaction of the international community to a ground invasion will include at least some who say this will be another Armenian Genocide. I'm not questioning the bravery of your soldiers or the integrity of the Turkish government, but your government must take steps to provide assurances to the rest of the Free World that what you are doing is a structured, organized, and limited military campaign, and that it is going to be a justified retaliation and not.. slaughter... What are your government's goals in this ground invasion?" LaFleur asked. "What defines victory for you, and once you are done can you commit that Turkey will withdraw from northern Iraq?" he asked.

Jay

 

[Jay]

Gripping the receiver with her left hand, Ayşe softly leaned her head against her knuckles. "I understand the skepticism that some may show." She paused, handing the general a note she had scribbled on to give her the timeline. She continued. "I wish to stress that this was not a decision that I enjoyed taking, but the terrorists who have settled in Northern Iraq and planned to have operations within my country, crossing the borders, and killing innocent civilians cannot be tolerated. Any Western country in my position would have to have..." She paused as she looked over the general's response.

Ayşe continued removing her head from the receiver, "would take the same kind of decision that I did. We plan to be in northern Iraq for a limited time to achieve our objectives. Once we've gotten hold of their bases and cleared them out we will leave." She paused realizing she probably did not answer the President's question.

"Our campaign will be limited to clearing out Northern Iraq. To be specific we plan to target minor towns, mountain bases, and the only city with a large population at risk of our operation will be Duhok, which we do not anticipate taking at the moment. Our goal is limited to clearing out the PKK's presence in the Qandil Mountains and its supply operation across Duhok, Mala Arab, Barzan. and Bakhramn. Our forces will be targeting the PKK and any associated militias that support them but you have my word President Lafleur that we will not be deliberately targeting the Peshmerga or legitimate Kurdish factions."

She looked back at Sümeyye who gave her a soft nod. "You have my word that the Turkish military will withdraw from Northern Iraq once we've cleared it of the PKK presence, and so long as the PKK is not able to return to those bases, we will have no reason to maintain a permanent presence."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Thank you for calling in advance and giving us this information," LaFleur said. "Your assurances that this will not lead to a permanent occupation of northern Iraq are well-received here. I'm going to meet with officials from the Defense Department to go over how the United States can assist your government and your armed forces throughout this conflict... You should know that you can trust my administration and that we will help your government in this endeavor in whatever capacity that congress will allow us to," LaFleur said. He did not want any kind of foreign conflict to be the focus of his first 100 days in office. But here he was.

"I know that you have some pressing matters to get to," LaFleur continued, "if your Defense Ministry could brief your ambassador here in Washington, I would be more than happy to host him here at the White House. After that, and after I meet with the folks at the Pentagon, I should be able to present you with a clear plan of how the United States can support Turkey," he said, inconclusion.

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Thank you for taking the call President Lafleur." Ayşe responded. "We plan to launch our operation in a week from now, and I will be sure to keep you abreast of any developments that may be of importance to you."

Sümeyye handed her a note, which Ayşe read quickly before responding. "I will have our ministry brief Ambassador Kılıç, who will be available to speak with you anytime tomorrow or the following days. Once again, President Lafleur, I congratulate you on your hard-fought election and hope that we will be able to enhance our relationship in the years to come. Have a good afternoon."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Secret​

"I'm always happy to talk, Prime Minister. Again, I appreciate the information, God speed," LaFleur said. With that, the call ended. The President hung up the phone and looked at his Chief of Staff and Secretary of State. Franks almost mentioned to LaFleur that he shouldn't mention God when talking to the leader of a Muslim country, but he decided that he would save the diplomatic protocol speech for later. LaFleur, Franks, and Bell met for fifteen more minutes. The President directed Franks to send an official summons to the Turkish Ambassador to the United States. The rest of the President's morning and afternoon was cancelled as meetings with Pentagon officials were scheduled.

---

---

THE WHITE HOUSE​

---

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Serdar Kılıç, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the United States ( Jay )​

FROM: Liam Bell, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Good afternoon,

It is my duty to inform you that you have been summoned by the President. Your presence as the most senior Turkish diplomat to the United States is essential and required in three hours. If you are unable to arrive within this time frame inform my office immediately, as this is a matter of pressing importance. Report to the following address:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, District of Columbia 20500

Best regards,

Liam Bell
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff​

 

[Jay]

Dışişleri Bakanlığı Ministry of Foreign Affairs​

AUTHENTIC COMMUNIQUE OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Security Clearance: Secure and Encrypted ŞİFRELEME KORUMASI: KAPLUĞA​

[Recipient]: Office of the Chief of Staff < Odinson > [Sender]: Embassy of Türkiye, Washington D.C.< embassy.washington@mb.gov.tr > [Subject]: Confidential // RE: Summons

Dear Mr. Bell, The Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye conveys its warm regards to the Government of the United States and reaffirms the enduring value of the partnership between our two nations. I have received your letter of summons, and I shall avail myself to be present and available to you. Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration and our continued commitment to the strong partnership between Türkiye and the United States. Respectfully, Serdar Kılıç Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20008 Phone: +1 (202) 612-6700

SECRET​

Sayri Saltik, the Ambassador's chief of security, walked several paces ahead of him. As the Range Rover came into view, he stepped forward and pulled open the rear door.

Serdar entered the vehicle while Mustafa slipped in after him before the door fully settled into its frame, the sound of the latch snapping shut just as Sayri got into the front and the lead SUV rolled forward. The convoy surged forward, merging onto the avenue. Mustafa leaned toward the Ambassador.

“You've read the briefings,” Mustafa asked. He watched as the Ambassador nodded. “The Ministry is expecting 26,000 troops to be involved with the goal to clear out the northern parts of Iraq."

Sedar looked up. "I said I read it, Mustafa." He looked down at his phone, reading a few messages as Mustafa nodded.

"The Ministry wants us to meet with the Americans and explain the situation and address their concerns," Mustafa added.

"I know that Mustafa," Serdar said, shaking his head. He looked over at the quietly sitting military attaché. "Lt. Colonel İkra Kuyumcu..." he began. "What is your read on the situation?"

The younger officer looked confusedly at the Ambassador. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

"The invasion. What's your read on it?" Serdar asked.

İkra looked at the Ambassador and then at Mustafa, unsure how to answer. "Well, out with it," Serdar said. "I don't want you to badmouth someone; I just need your take to help me explain it to the Americans."

İkra nodded. "The current plan for Operation Hammer, as the Chief Secretary noted, is a limited incursion into Northern Iraq targeting..." The Ambassador cut her off.

"Limited?" He scoffed. "This is over 25,000 troops invading the country. How is that even limited?"

İkra bit her lip softly, unsure how to get it through to the civilians. "Sir, it is limited. The plan is a limited incursion because it has a specific target area despite the larger area of operation from which the PKK is operating. The Army and Air Force are not deploying into major urban cities like Erbil, Mosul, or Sulaymaniyah and are instead seeking to destroy the border camps, manufacturing infrastructure, and to be crude mow the lawn."

"Mow the lawn?" Serdar asked as he looked out the window at the streets of D.C., it was a beautiful city in of itself.

"Killing the PKK and its members. This kind of operation allows for a more methodical clearing operation than the current air campaign would allow." The Lt. Colonel said as she straightened her dress jacket.

Mustafa nodded as Serdar pushed a little more. "Lt. Colonel what are we really doing here?"

İkra's lips pouted. "That is your problem to figure out, Ambassador."

Serdar laughed a little. "I like this one, Mustafa."

Mustafa could only nodd as the motorcade pulled into the White House where it passed the security gate by the South Lawn before pulling up towards the drop-off point by the West Wing. Ambassador Serdar got off followed by his chief secretary Mustafa, and then the military attache. In the second vehicle, two political affairs officers, Burcu Özberk and Nihat Altınkaya, got off. They received their visitor passes and waited inside. It was a bit of a spectacle to witness the White House in transition. It was clear that the administration had a change of the guard as work crews installed new fixtures, aides walked around cluelessly, and new appointments were being made.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private

President LaFleur had been briefed for over an hour about the intentions of the Turks, the capabilities of the Kurds, what domestic opinion polling was on the situation in Turkey, and how the United States could realistically impact the situation. In short, LaFleur's advisors disagreed whether the Turks were genuinely intended in stomping out terrorists and then returning home or if they wanted to displace/kill as many Kurds as possible in Northern Iraq, that the average American thought a Kurd was some type of dessert, and that an overwhelming American response would not do anything to directly benefit the United States.

"When is the ambassador getting here?" LaFleur asked as he sat on one of the sofas in the Oval Office.

"About half an hour, Mister President," Bell said.

"Sounds good, I'm going for a walk, alone," LaFleur said. He stood up and started walking for the door that connected the Oval Office to the West Colonnade that connected the West Wing to the White House Residence.

"Mister President, sir, we still haven't talked about-" Secretary Franks stopped talking when LaFleur closed the door behind him.

"Where the hell is he going?" Franks asked.

"He likes to take walks when he needs to process things," Bell said.

"Where is he walking to? He can't leave White House grounds," Franks said.

"I doubt he knows that yet," Bell said.

A Secret Service agent burst through one of the doors in the Oval Office and briskly walked towards the door Sinclair had gone through. "Sentinel is on the move," the agent said to the microphone in his shirt cuff as he rushed outside after the President.

The other six people in the room sat back and listened as the President's Chief of Staff and his new Secretary of State went back and forth. Suddenly there was a knock from one of the interior doors to the Oval Office. No one said anything for a second and then everyone looked at Bell.

"Come in?" Bell said.

Benjamin Valentine Sinclair walked into the room wearing his signature three-piece suit. His signature neatly combed white hair was perfect today. Everyone in the room stood up when they realized that it was Sinclair.

"Mister President?" Bell said, like he was looking at a ghost.

Sinclair walked into the Oval Office and stopped after he stepped in. He looked around and noted all of the changes to the room. "It looks nice in here, I'm not sure about these paintings though," Sinclair said, and pointed with his black cane at a few of the paintings to the left of the Resolute Desk.

"Those are temporary, sir. They're flying in some artwork from New Orleans... Um, can we help you with something... sir?" Bell said.

"Well, I see that you're all running the country without our new President," Sinclair said sarcastically, "when he shows up, let him know that this is for him. Better late than never," Sinclair said. He held up a cream-colored envelope made of resume paper, it looked expensive. On the front of it had an American flag forever stamp at the top right, it was addressed to President LaFleur, and it had a big, bold, 45 written on the front in black sharpie.

Bell approached Sinclair, "I can make sure the President gets that, sir."

Sinclair snatched the envelope close to his chest, "No sir, you won't." Sinclair approached the Resolute Desk and set the envelope down on it.

"Before I came here, I met with the new Postmaster General. She signed a letter I had drafted which designated me as a special courier for the United States Postal Service with the mission to deliver this envelope, which I have just produced and placed on the Resolute Desk, to President LaFleur. The envelope has the appropriate postage, it is properly addressed, and it is sealed," Sinclair said as he started walking back from whence he had come. "I will remind all of you that it is a federal felony to open someone else's mail. I'm not the President anymore, but I have some sway around here..." Sinclair grabbed the doorknob to exit and then froze and turned back to the flabbergasted group of people in the room.

"By the way, I forgot to return this. It's a skeleton key to the Residence, and it also works for all of the tunnels. I thought about keeping it, but then I remembered it's about a hundred years old. You can give this back to the President," Sinclair said, and then skillfully tossed the key to Bell, who caught it.

"I'm off to Maine now, good luck," Sinclair said, and closed the door behind him.

"What the hell was that? How did he get in?" Franks asked.

"Probably with the key," replied the Secretary of Defense.

---

President LaFleur put on his sunglasses as he walked outside into the chilly winter weather. It wasn't as bad as Inauguration Day, but it was still cold outside. He made it about fifteen steps until a Secret Service agent barged outside. LaFleur walked by the Rose Garden, past the Residence, and through the Jaquelene Kennedy Rose Garden that was near the White House's East Wing. The flowers and greenery weren't that lively in the midst of winter, but it was still nice to be outside. LaFleur could see his breath as he exhaled and continued his walk. The snow on the ground all around him was alien. He'd only seen snow in New Orleans a handful of times and it never lasted for more than a day or two, at most. This freezing swamp where snow and ice could last for weeks on end was just bizarre. As he stood near the Kennedy Rose Garden, he quietly thought about New Orleans and started to feel homesick. It was 62 degrees there right now. Almost all of his friends were back there, eating good food, drinking, smoking cigars, going to jazz clubs. Why was he here?

"Mister President," said a Secret Service agent from behind LaFleur.

The President snapped out of it and turned around. "Something wrong?"

"No sir, I just wanted to make sure that everything is okay... It's thirty degrees outside and you're not wearing an overcoat."

LaFleur rubbed one of his arms over his jacket and shrugged, "I guess I'm a southern boy that isn't used to this kind of weather, what can I say? I have one overcoat and I wore it to the Inauguration. I guess they're having it drycleaned.. I'm alright, thank you. I heard that Lafayette Park is underrated, have you been?"

"Yes sir," said the agent, "but we'll need to clear the park out if you want to go. Maybe in an hour?"

LaFleur frowned, "No one's expecting me. We can't just stroll over there?"

"No sir," the agent said plainly, "that's not how it works, sir."

"And they say I'm in charge," LaFleur said as they started walking back towards the West Wing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. I'm Avery LaFleur," the President said, and offered his hand to the agent, who took it and returned a firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Mister President. I'm Theo Bradshaw, I'm the head of your detail, sir."

"What happened to the other guy?"

"He was just in charge while you were a candidate, sir."

"It's nice to meet you, Theo. I guess I should get back to the West Wing... Listen, Theo, it's not personal, but I like to take walks and I like to take them alone. I realize that I'm not actually alone, ever, but I'd like to feel like it."

"No offense taken, sir."

"One more thing."

"Sir?"

"Tell the chef that I want shrimp étouffée tonight.. Probably two servings, and some wine."

"Yes sir, I'll let him know," Theo said, and then faded into the background.

LaFleur returned to the Oval Office after his walk "alone". He took off his sunglasses and looked down at the Resolute Desk. There was a envelope on it, addressed to him and with a big 45 written on the front of it. The President was about to start opening it before Bell knocked and came into the room. The Turks, after going through all of the normal security measures to get into the West Wing of the White House, had been welcomed into the West Wing.

"Sir, the Turks are here. There's several of them. Do you want any of us to join you for the meeting?"

"No," LaFleur said decidedly. "I just want it to be me and him, no one else."

Some refreshments were brought into the room and then Bell opened the door to the Oval Office. LaFleur was standing behind the Resolute Desk, looking outside.

"Mister President, Ambassador Serdar Kılıç of the Republic of Turkey is here," he said, and then closed the door behind him. LaFleur took a few seconds, inhaled, closed his eyes, and then opened them, exhaled, and turned around to face Kılıç.

"Ambassador, I hope that I didn't keep you waiting too long," he said. LaFleur offered the ambassador a cup of coffee or tea, and poured himself a cup of black coffee.

He offered the ambassador a seat at one of the sofas in the Oval Office, and he sat across from him at the other sofa.

"I'm very sorry for what's happening in your country... I wanted to ask you here because I hoped that you could give me some more information about what is going on and, hopefully, a more... Turkish perspective than what my own advisors are giving me," the President said. He sat back, ornate teacup in-hand, and sipped his black coffee.

Turkish intelligence would likely know that LaFleur was not a well-travelled man and that he grew up from nothing. He built his life on his own. He started as a police officer, then a detective, he went to college and then law school, then he became a lawyer, then attorney general of Louisiana, then governor, and now President. He was self-made and a natural leader, but in different ways than his predecessors. A Turkish intelligence report would likely say that LaFleur always listened carefully, enjoyed finding inconsistencies in narratives, and that lying to him was the surefire way to permanently ruin one's reputation with him. To put it how LaFleur's dad would say it: "My boy can smell bullshit from a mile away."