Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends an interview with Reuters at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Turkey’s southern border region with Syria had come under serious mortar fire over the last two days and Turkish forces were retaliating as necessary.

Erdogan also told a conference in Istanbul that United States support for Kurdish militia fighters inside Syria was damaging solidarity between Washington and Ankara, but that relations could turn a page under President Donald Trump.

“We will continue to take any measures as long as the threats persist... We will not allow efforts to form a terror corridor at our southern border,” Erdogan said.