Erdoğan Asks US to End Support for Kurdish Militias, Hand Over Cleric
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the Atlantic
Council’s Istanbul Summit on April 28, urged the United States to end
its support for Kurdish rebels in Syria and to extradite a cleric Turkey
says orchestrated a failed coup attempt in July of 2016; he also
accused some European countries of harboring terrorists.
Erdoğan’s remarks offered a preview of his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on May 16. The Turkish leader had been unsuccessful in his efforts to convince former US President Barack Obama to drop his support for the Kurdish militias who have proven to be one of the most effective forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria. He was optimistic that he could open a new, and very different, chapter in the US-Turkey relationship with Trump.
Erdoğan’s remarks offered a preview of his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on May 16. The Turkish leader had been unsuccessful in his efforts to convince former US President Barack Obama to drop his support for the Kurdish militias who have proven to be one of the most effective forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria. He was optimistic that he could open a new, and very different, chapter in the US-Turkey relationship with Trump.
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