"The Erdogan call turned out to be an experience. Listening to him (his remarks were always interpreted), he sounded like Mussolini speaking from his Rome balcony, except that Erdogan was talking in that tone and volume over the phone. It was as if he were lecturing us while standing on the Resolute desk," Bolton said while revealing the details of a conversation between him, Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

The call was held immediately after a suspected chemical attack near Syria's Damascus in 2018 that killed more than 40 people. In less than a week, the United States, Britain and France allies launched airstrikes against Syrian military targets.

Meanwhile, Bolton, in his book, called Erdogan a dictator while he was commenting on Trump's efforts to interfere in the federal case against Halkbank in favor of Turkey and use his authority to halt any further enforcement actions against the bank, Ahval news agency reported.

"Specifically, however, I also wanted to brief (Attorney General William Barr) on Trump's penchant to, in effect, give personal favors to dictators he liked, such as the criminal cases of Halkbank, ZTE, potentially Huawei, and who knew what else," Bolton said.

Reporter’s code: 50101