Turkey’s President Erdogan to meet Donald Trump in US to discuss plans for Syria ‘safe zone’
- Just days after the Turkish leader decried the US for its ‘failure’ to uphold a buffer zone deal, Erdogan says he will visit the US for meeting next month
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US counterpart Donald Trump agreed during a phone call to meet in Washington next month to discuss creating a “safe zone” in northern Syria, the Turkish presidency said Sunday.
Erdogan told Trump of his “frustration over the US military and security bureaucracy’s failure to implement the deal” agreed in August to establish a buffer zone on the Turkish border, the presidency said in a statement.
It added that the visit would take place after an invitation from Trump.
There had been expectations in Turkey of a Trump-Erdogan meeting on Syria last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but it did not take place.
The Turkish leader had raised the temperature on Saturday by warning that Ankara could launch a cross-border offensive “as soon as today, tomorrow”, putting pressure on the United States.
Turkish state media also reported on military reinforcements sent to the border with Syria after Erdogan’s comments.