Erdoğan to Visit Trump Next Week

The President has confirmed the meeting following a phone call with his US counterpart, after saying that he was not sure about going to the US after Trump's threatening letter.

İstanbul

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump have held a phone call, reaffirming their meeting in Washington DC on November 13.

Erdoğan previously said he will decide in the phone call whether he will visit Trump or not after the US President threatened him with "destroying" Turkey's economy and told him "not to be a fool," in a letter on Turkey's military operation in northern Syria in October.

"Just had a very good call with President Erdoğan of Turkey. He informed me that they have captured numerous ISIS fighters that were reported to have escaped during the conflict -- including a wife and sister of terrorist killer al- Baghdadi," Trump said in a tweet, referring to the slain ISIS leader who blew himself up during a raid by US forces in Syria's Idlib province.

"Look forward to seeing President Erdoğan next Wednesday, November 13th at the White House," Trump added.

President Erdoğan announced yesterday (November 6) that Turkey captured a wife and sister of Baghdadi.

Erdoğan said on Twitter that they had an "efficient" telephone conversation and discussed bilateral relations and issues in the region.

"During the meeting, we discussed the steps we will take in many areas, especially the fight against terrorism and trade targets between our countries," he said.

"I believe that the phone call we made today will have beneficial consequences for our bilateral relations and regional issues during our visit to the US on November 13," Erdoğan added.

The scheduled meeting comes in the aftermath of a deal reached between Ankara and Washington on October 17 to pause Turkey's military operation in northern Syria in order to allow the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) to withdraw from a planned safe zone. (EKN/VK)