Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump holded his first face-to-face talks amid accusations that Trump gave Russian officials classified intelligence from an ally.
Trump greeted Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the entrance to the West Wing with a handshake and small talk out of range of reporters. Addressing reporters a short time later, Trump said it was a "great honor" to welcome Erdoğan.
Trump also offered compassion and support for "horrible terrorist attacks" against the Turkish people in recent years.
Erdoğan congratulated Trump on his "legendary triumph" in last November's presidential election. He also noted that the U.S. and Turkey work alongside each other at the United Nations, NATO and the Group of 20 developed and developing countries.
Addressing reporters at joint press conference, Erdoğan said Turkey is determined to expand ties with the U.S. and that he hopes the visit will lay a new foundation for relations between the two countries.
Erdoğan said taking the YPG, PYD into consideration in the region will never be accepted, it's against the global agreement we have reached.
The U.S.'s military support to the YPG was among the top priority issues on the table during the two leaders' first face-to-face meeting. The U.S. has provided military and arms support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is predominantly led by the YPG.
President Erdoğan conveyed Ankara's concerns about this sensitive issue to the U.S. president, particularly since the YPG is considered a terror organization by Turkey and is a national security threat along its southern border with Syria.
Erdogan warned US on cooperation with and "Terror groups have no future in Mideast." he said in a statement.
Erdoğan also said he communicate Turkey's expectations on the U.S. cooperation in fight against FETÖ and the extradition of Fetullah Gülen.
Ankara has previously said that the U.S. is delaying the extradition process due to political motivations, despite Turkey providing boxes of evidence that links Gülen to last year's July 15 coup attempt.
Trump said it was a "great honor" to welcome Erdoğan and that he "look forward to having a long and productive discussion."
Trump said the U.S. always had good relations with Turkey and now it will be better and even "unbeatable."
Meeting Erdoğan, Trump voiced support for Turkey in its fights against Daesh, PKK.
Trump also offered compassion and support for "horrible terrorist attacks" against the Turkish people in recent years.
