'Damn American Imperialism!' Anti-Trump Rally Held in Istanbul

Tensions over the Kurdish issue have been running high between Turkey and the US in recent days, with Donald Trump threatening to "devastate" the Turkish economy in the event of an attack against US-backed Kurdish militias in Syria.
A protest against Donald Trump, organized by the Turkish non-parliamentary left-wing nationalist VATAN party, took place today in front of the US Consulate in Istanbul.

Dozens of people, outraged by Trump’s threats to impose economic sanctions against Turkey in the event of a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria, took part in the protests. They were holding banners and chanting slogans like “Damn American imperialism!” or “Turks and Kurds are brothers, America is a traitor”.

As part of the event, Cem Dikmen, leader of the Istanbul branch of the VATAN party, delivered a statement to the press. In particular, he said that Trump, on his Twitter page, “was openly threatening Turkey with sanctions in the event of a strike against the Kurds, and demanded the creation of a security zone”. Dikmen also added that the United States and their agents are responsible for the killing of the Kurds.

“Turkish people have always lived and fought together with the fraternal Kurdish people. No one can break this fraternity”, he said.