“All that was done in opposition to Trump in Europe and across the United States is a disrespect to democracy,” Erdogan told Israeli-based Channel 2 in an exclusive interview.
“First and foremost, those who believe in the ballot need to have respect” for the results, the president said.
“If they don’t, then this means they don’t understand democracy, they can’t tolerate it and they don’t have respect for it.”
Hours after the results showed a stunning victory for Trump, protests began in dozens of cities against the president-elect and continued for days.
Erdogan said he and Trump spoke via telephone on the first night after his election. “We agreed that there are a lot of things we are going to do between Turkey and the United States,” he said.
Regarding Trump’s policy positions on Muslims and immigrants, Erdogan said, “I absolutely don't believe" the president-elect would follow up on the harsh rhetoric he used while campaigning.
“As a matter of fact, he made amends in his later statements,” Erdogan said, referring to proposals that watered down his original demands.
Trump’s controversial pledges included imposing a ban on Muslims coming into the U.S. and religious profiling against American Muslims.