Trump to host President Erdoğan at White House on May 16

WASHINGTON

REUTERS photo

U.S. President Donald Trump will host President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan next week at the White House, The Associated Press has reported.The White House said in a statement on May 10 that Erdoğan will visit on May 16 in what will be the two leaders’ first face-to-face meeting since Trump took office in January.The statement said the two leaders are expected to discuss ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.Erdoğan’s visit comes weeks after he won the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments including the shift to an executive presidency.Trump congratulated Erdoğan on his referendum win.But Erdoğan criticized the recent U.S. decision to directly arm the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara regards as terror “terrorist” groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and has long pressed Washington to stop its support for the group.Erdoğan said on May 10 that he was hoping that the decision would be revised during his visit to Washington.“I want to believe that Turkey’s allies will side with us, not with terrorist organizations,” Erdoğan said.