Erdogan Refuses To Meet With Pence And Pompeo

October 16, 2019 Diplomacy, Trump Administration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will refuse to meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who is due to travel to Turkey to argue for a ceasefire in the ongoing Syria conflict.

“I’m not going to talk to them. They will be talking to their counterparts. When Trump comes here, I’ll be talking,” he said in comments made to Sky News, referring to the U.S. delegation.

The vice president’s office announced Tuesday that Pence would lead a U.S. delegation including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security advisor Robert O’Brien and the special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, to Turkey on Wednesday. The aim of the trip was to persuade Erdogan to stop his offensive into the region.

Turkey’s president @RTErdogan tells @AlexCrawfordSky he will not speak with the US Vice President about a ceasefire in Syria during his visit – adding that he will only talk to President @realDonaldTrump.

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— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 16, 2019