Erdoğan and Trump to talk on phone soon: Presidential spokesperson

ANKARA

A highly anticipated phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump is slated to take place in the coming days, a presidential spokesperson said over the weekend. 

“Now that there is a new administration in the U.S., our president will have a meeting with him in the coming days. There will be a phone conversation and then contacts at different levels. We will continue to discuss these issues,” said İbrahim Kalın, the presidential spokesperson and chief foreign policy advisor, said on Feb. 4 in Istanbul at the launch of his new book “I, the Other and Beyond.”

Trump swore in as the new president of the U.S. on Jan. 20 but is yet to reply to Erdoğan’s phone call request, who had earlier said he was keen to know what the new U.S. administration’s approach was on the emerging issues of the Middle East.

Answering a question on Trump’s visa ban on nationals from seven Muslim countries, Kalın said such bans were not useful, noting that the consequences that could arise from such policies should be analyzed thoroughly. 

He stressed that the use of “Islamic terror” by some Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was worrying. “Our President immediately responded to her but it shows how this issue requires urgency and significance,” he said. 

“Have we ever said ‘Semitic terror’? Is ‘Jewish terror’ or ‘Christian terror’ being used? No, but aren’t there people who stage terrorism in the name of Christianity?” Kalın asked. 

Erdoğan set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar

Erdoğan is expected to embark on a visit to three Gulf countries next week, daily Yeni Şafak has reported.
The president will travel to Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia between Feb. 12 and 16. Political and economic relations as well as regional issues particularly the wars in Syria and Iraq will be on Erdoğan’s agenda.