Erdoğan to decide whether to go to US after phone call with Trump

Duvar English/Reuters

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that he will decide on whether or not to go to the United States next week after holding a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

"We'll hold a phone call and make our final decision in accordance," Erdoğan told journalists in parliament on Nov. 5.

Earlier, his spokesperson has said that Erdoğan is yet to decide on whether or not to go to the U.S., adding that the there are "hesitations" on the Turkish side.

Speaking during a press conference, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said that the request for the meeting came from Trump and not from Erdoğan.

"Our evaluations on whether or not the visit will take place are still ongoing. Our aim with this visit is not having gone to Washington, but on the contrary, to obtain concrete results in line with the interests of our country," Kalın said on Nov. 5.

Erdoğan is due in Washington on Nov. 13.

The spokesperson also said that the issues of defense industry, fight against terror, developments in Syria and the increasing of trade volume between the two countries are among the topics to be discussed in the visit.

"Taking concrete steps on these and obtaining results are our main priorities. This is the aim of the visit. If our hesitations on whether we will be able to reach these goals is not removed, the visit may not take place," he added.

Kalın noted that the final decision on whether or not to go to Washington will be given by Erdoğan in the next couple of days.

Relations between Ankara and Washington have been going through tough times, with several critical developments taking place within past one month.

Following Trump's announcement on pulling U.S. troops out of northern Syria, Turkey launched its military offensive in the area on Oct. 9.

Trump was slammed by both Republicans and Democrats for allowing the incursion to take place due to the fact that the group Turkey wanted to conduct its operation against was a main U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS.

Turkey perceives the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as a terrorist organization due to the group being an arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Upon two weeks of fast-moving events, a ceasefire deal was reached, which was followed by Trump lifting the previously announced sanctions.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two resolutions last week, prompting criticism from Turkey.

Turkish officials on Nov. 4 told Reuters that Erdoğan may call off the visit to Washington in protest at votes in the House of Representatives to recognize the mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide and to seek sanctions on Turkey.

"These steps seriously overshadow ties between the two countries. Due to these decisions, Erdoğan's visit has been put on hold," a senior Turkish official said, adding that a final decision had not been taken.

Turkish sources say Trump and Erdoğan have a strong bond despite anger in Congress over Turkey's Syria offensive and its purchase of Russian air defenses, and despite what Ankara sees as Trump's own erratic pronouncements.

Those personal ties could be crucial given NATO member Turkey's purchase of Moscow's S-400 missile defense system, which under U.S. law should trigger sanctions.

Turkey is already suspended from the F-35 fighter jet programme in which it was both joint producer and customer, and the offensive it launched set the stage for further U.S. retaliation.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were orchestrated or constitute genocide.

"They took advantage of the current political climate against Turkey in Washington to pass this resolution," a source close to the presidency said. Like the other officials, he spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump has expressed sympathy for Turkey over its purchase of Russian defense systems, blaming his predecessor for not selling Ankara U.S. Patriot missiles.

However, last month Trump threatened to "obliterate" Turkey's economy, and Trump sent Erdoğan a letter on the day the offensive started warning him he could be responsible for "slaughtering thousands of people."

"Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool!" Trump wrote.

A Turkish security official cited Trump's letter, along with the votes in Congress, as damaging: "If the atmosphere doesn't change, there won't be any point to this visit."

Erdoğan himself said three weeks ago he could no longer keep up with Trump's blizzard of tweets.

Still, for Ankara, Trump remains the best hope of salvaging a partnership between two countries that, despite their difficulties, want to quadruple their annual trade to $100 billion.

"The two leaders have a good relationship," the source close to the presidency said. "President Trump wants to have good relations with Turkey in spite of his own establishment."