Turkish FM to attend Trump's inauguration

ANKARA

AA photo

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20.

At a meeting with the High Education Board yesterday, Çavuşoğlu announced he will depart to the U.S. late yesterday to attend the inauguration. 

“The organization committee has invited us. The president’s cadre will be at the meetings and we will be able to meet them as well,” he told reporters. 

He said the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to have been the mastermind behind the July 15 coup attempt, will also be discussed with the new administration. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said earlier this month that relations between Ankara and Washington were likely to improve once Donald Trump commenced office.

“I believe we will reach a consensus with Mr. Trump, particularly on regional issues,” he said.

The Turkish government’s adamant wait for Trump comes after diplomatic relations strained between Ankara and Washington over the latter’s support to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with which it has been fighting against.