The United States Army bragged about its “#partnership” with Turkish commandos in a tweet Monday — just hours after President Trump ordered sanctions on the country for “possible war crimes.”
The post includes a photo of several soldiers — including two shaking hands — at the Hohenfels training area in Germany from the Sept. 18 airborne assault training exercise.
“Turkish Commandos joined American and Italian paratroopers during and an airborne assault that was a part of the training exercise #SaberJunction19 at Hohenfels training area in Germany,” the tweet reads, concluding “#partnership.”
The training session — called Saber Junction 19 — featured 5,400 participants from 16 ally and partner nations of NATO, according to a September press release linked in the post that noted it was the first time Turkish soldiers took part in Saber Junction.
But Twitter users were quick to point out it’s a terrible look for the US army, especially after a monitoring group reported Sunday that a Kurdish political leader was among nine civilians “executed” by Turkish-backed fighters in Syria.
“Uhhh, timing. Get some,” said one Twitter user.
“Seems a bit tone deaf,” added another.
“And meanwhile, Turkey is continuing its war of Aggression against the Kurds,” a third user pointed out.
The relationship between the US and Turkey has soured following Ankara’s decision to invade northern Syria last week.
President Trump, who pulled US troops from the area to initially make way for Turkish forces, has faced harsh bipartisan condemnation for that decision, which left the US-allied Kurds in the region to defend themselves.
The mounting criticism led Trump on Monday to announce he’s ordering sanctions on Turkey — while also calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end the assault and issue a ceasefire.
“Turkey’s military offensive is endangering civilians and threatens peace, security and stability in the region,” Trump said in a statement he posted on Twitter.
“I have been perfectly clear with President Erdogan: Turkey’s action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes.”
Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions Monday, administration officials said. An announcement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went out at 6:10 p.m. — but the Army tweet was posted at 9:05 p.m.
The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.