U.S. President Donald Trump raised eyebrows Thursday as he welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Oval Office, joking that his guest “knows more than anyone about rigged elections.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan © Mena Today
U.S. President Donald Trump raised eyebrows Thursday as he welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Oval Office, joking that his guest “knows more than anyone about rigged elections.”
Calling Erdogan “a tough man with strong ideas,” Trump added, “Usually I don’t like people with strong ideas, but I always appreciate this one.”
Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2014, during a period marked by widespread crackdowns on opposition figures, including the March arrest of Istanbul’s mayor and presidential rival Ekrem Imamoglu.
By Sylvia Hukuret
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he and President Donald Trump had made "meaningful progress" on a range of regional and bilateral issues at their first meeting in the White House in six years, where they discussed defence cooperation and trade.
President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. could lift sanctions on Turkey and allow it to buy U.S. F-35 jets as he kicked off talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, but said he wanted Ankara to stop purchases of Russian oil.
U.S. President Donald Trump will host Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, seeking to agree arms and trade deals that could help ease a series of diplomatic disputes that have dogged U.S.-Turkish ties for years.
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