Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to the United States next week to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump, who held a telephone conversation on Wednesday, at the height of tension between the two countries, the Turkish presidency said.
“The two presidents have confirmed that they will meet in Washington on November 13 at the invitation of President Trump”, the Turkish presidency said.
Erdogan has threatened to cancel the visit because of tension over Syria and the US House of Representatives vote to recognize the Armenian genocide.
He announced this week that he would make his final decision during telephone talks with Trump.
The US president confirmed on Wednesday Erdogan’s visit to the White House, pointing in a tweet on Twitter to “very good telephone contact” with his Turkish counterpart.
Trump said in his tweet that he had discussed with Erdogan the issue of the Syrian-Turkish border and “the elimination of terrorism and the end of hostilities with the Kurds and other issues.
“Erdogan informed me of the arrest of several ISIS operatives who announced their flight during the conflict, including the wife and sister of the assassin, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, who was killed in a US military operation at the end of October.
The Turkish presidency said on Wednesday that Trump and Erdogan “exchanged views on bilateral issues and regional developments”.
Erdogan’s visit to the United States comes two months after Ankara launched an offensive against US-backed Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria.
Turkey began its military operation after Trump announced the withdrawal of a US force deployed in the region, and the move was interpreted as a green light for Ankara.
But Trump later tightened and sanctions against Turkey were lifted after Ankara suspended its offensive in Syria under an agreement reached between Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence.
In addition to the differences over Syria, Ankara expressed dissatisfaction last week after the US House of Representatives vote to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Erdogan has also repeatedly urged the United States to extradite Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and Ankara accuses him of being behind a 2016 coup attempt.
