ISTANBUL – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump regarding efforts to bring an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and to restore stability in Syria, as confirmed by Erdogan’s office on Sunday. Erdogan expressed Turkey’s support for Trump’s decisive actions to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict and emphasized Turkey’s commitment to achieving a just and lasting peace.
Erdogan also highlighted the importance of collaborating on lifting sanctions in Syria to facilitate stability, ensure the functionality of the new administration, and promote normalization for the return of Syrians to their homeland. Turkey expects the United States to take actions in the fight against terrorism that consider Turkish interests.
In the context of combating the Islamic State in Syria, Turkey has criticized the U.S. alliance with a Syrian Kurdish militia, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, as a betrayal of their NATO alliance. Erdogan stressed the need to lift CAATSA sanctions, finalize Ankara’s F-16 procurement, and rejoin the F-35 program to enhance defense industry cooperation between Turkey and the United States.
Turkey’s previous acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems led to U.S. sanctions and Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 program in 2019.
