US Vice President Mike Pence has told
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim
that the new administration wanted a
“new start” in relations between the two
NATO member states, local media
reported Sunday.
Turkey is looking to improve relations
with Washington under President
Donald Trump after ties soured during
Barack Obama’s time in office.
Pence said the United States was ready
to further develop ties during a meeting
on Saturday on the sidelines of the
Munich security conference, the private
NTV channel reported.
Last week, new CIA chief Mike Pompeo
visited Ankara less than 48 hours after
Trump spoke for the first time by phone
with his Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Yildirim told Pence that Turkey was
“ready for all kinds of cooperation” on
the issue of Turkish Islamic preacher
Fethullah Gulen, NTV said.
Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in
Pennsylvania, is accused by Ankara of
ordering the failed coup which tried to
overthrow Erdogan last July.
He strongly denies the charges but
Ankara has repeatedly called for his
extradition.
The issue became a bone of contention
between Ankara and the Obama
administration after Washington said a
possibly slow legal process should take
its course.
Yildirim said moves towards his
extradition by the new administration
would “open a new page” in relations,
according to NTV.
The official statement from the White
House on their meeting said Pence
reiterated the US commitment to Turkey
as a strategic partner and NATO ally.
“The two leaders also discussed ways to
accelerate our joint efforts to defeat ISIS
(the Islamic State group),” the White
House added.
The two men also discussed finding a
permanent solution to the Syrian
conflict, NTV added.
Turkey launched an ambitious military
operation in northern Syria in August,
supporting opposition fighters to clear
IS elements from its border and halt the
advance of Syrian Kurdish militia.
At a rally in the southeastern city of
Gaziantep on Sunday, Erdogan said one
of the next steps in the operation would
be to clear the de facto IS capital Raqa
with the support of the US and other
countries.
“If we agree with the US, if we agree
with the coalition forces, if we agree
with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, we will clear
those killers called Daesh (IS) from
Raqa,” he said.
But issues remain over whether Trump
will continue to support the Kurdish
Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its
armed wing, the Kurdish Peoples’
Protection Units (YPG) against IS and
any future Raqa operation.
Turkey views the PYD and YPG as sister
organisations of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) which has waged
a bloody insurgency against the Turkish
state since 1984.
