Erdoğan to continue resting for a week

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish and US security officers are seen in front of PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s house in Istanbul before Biden’s visit. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will go on resting at home for at least another week following laparoscopic surgery, prime ministry sources said on yesterday. The cabinet meeting scheduled for today has been canceled.

Erdoğan will, however, travel to Qatar on Dec. 10 to attend Doha Summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, the prime ministry said in a statement on its webpage.

According to the statement, Erdoğan had laparoscopic surgery on his digestive system Nov. 26 and is convalescing in Istanbul. Since the operation, his only engagements have been those with Parliament Speaker Cemil Ciçek last week and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Dec. 03. The first photos of Erdoğan’s since the surgery were released after his meeting with U.S. official.

A senior U.S. diplomat has said Biden and Erdoğan discussed many issues in their two hour meeting, including the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), developments in Iran, Iraq and Syria, Turkish-Israeli tension, Cyprus, the Balkans, Turkish-Armenian relations, Halki Seminary and the process of preparing a new Turkish constitution.

The U.S. diplomat said Biden had reaffirmed the U.S. administration’s commitment to cooperate with Turkey against the serious threat caused by PKK terrorism. He also underlined the importance of Iraq taking necessary measures to put pressure on the PKK, adding this was for the best interests of the national government in Iraq and the regional administration in north of Iraq and Turkey should handle the PKK problem in a way that would not cause more violence and problems against Turkey.

Biden said Iran was losing influence in the region and becoming more isolated, while the best way to change Iran’s stance was continuing to apply pressure.

In regards to Cyprus, Biden said he hoped that the two parties would make real progress in ongoing negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations and the U.S. was ready to do its best to support the process.
Biden hoped that the Halki Seminary would be reopened and eulogized Erdoğan’s steps for return of minority properties, according to the U.S. diplomat.