ANKARA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Donald Trump in Brussels next month, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday.
The announcement comes a day after the US president congratulated the Turkish leader for winning a referendum on enhancing his powers.
“We will determine a date for the two presidents to meet in May before the NATO summit as previously confirmed by the leaders,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit is scheduled to be held in late May in the Belgian capital and Trump is due to attend, according to ABC News.
Cavusoglu did not specify whether the meeting would take place on the sidelines of the summit or at another venue.
Turkey hopes ties with the Trump administration will improve after relations soured between the Nato allies during Barack Obama’s term over Syria and Turkey’s calls for US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen to be extradited.
Gulen is accused of ordering last July’s failed coup and Ankara has repeatedly called for his extradition. The preacher vehemently denies Turkey’s accusations.
Last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson became the most senior American official to visit Turkey since Trump took office in January.
