Erdoğan, Obama talks to be headlined by Syria crisis

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Prime Minister Erdoğan arrives in Washington for his official visit. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made it clear before his departure that he and U.S. President Barack Obama would "discuss what they can do for Syria" at their meeting on May 16.

“The Syrian issue will of course be the first topic on the agenda. We will discuss what we can do for the future and what more active steps we can take,” Erdoğan told reporters May 14 in Ankara’s airport.

Underlining that a second Geneva Communiqué was approaching, Erdoğan said that they would discuss what was needed to get an earlier result. Erdoğan arrived late yesterday in Washington Joint Base Andrews Naval air facility, where he has been welcomed with full military ceremony. He visited the construction site of Turkish-American Cultural and Community Center.

Energy issue on table

Alongside with Syrian crisis, peace in the Middle East, the transatlantic free trade talks, and energy issues, particularly Turkey’s oil imports from northern Iraq will also discussed at the meeting. Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, who was not on the initial delegation list, is among ministers accompanying the Prime Minister. Yıldız is set to hold talks with officials from U.S. Secretary of Energy concerning the energy matters as Erdoğan announced at the last moment yesterday that Turkey had reached a deal with the American petroleum firm Exxon Mobile. “It is possible to make reciprocal agreements. There isn’t any obstacle in front of this. Now, Turkey, our petroleum firms, have reached an agreement with Exxon Mobil which is an American firm. There are no obstacles for us to do such things,” he had said. The American-Turkish energy cooperation, primarily the surprise Exxon Mobile agreement is expected to be examined and improved during the visit.