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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on tour in Europe and the Middle East, has reportedly refused to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A report in the Turkish media on Monday (November 17) quoted the Egyptian media outlet The New Arab.
Based on Pompeo’s itinerary, he will travel to Turkey on Mondays and Tuesdays. During the visit, Pompeo also met with the Greek Orthodox priest Bartholomew One in Istanbul. Apart from this, he has not met with any senior government officials in Turkey.
Pompeo sent a letter to the president’s office before the visit, according to a local media report called “Haber Turk.” Although Erdogan’s residence is in Ankara, the petition says Pompeo wants to meet if the president is in Istanbul.
The request was immediately rejected by President Erdogan’s office. The State Department blames US diplomats for the “behavior” (type of request).
Earlier, US media quoted Bloomberg as saying that Pompeo had been invited by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevl মে t Cavusoglu to meet in Ankara, citing a Turkish official who declined to be named. But Pompeo disagreed and asked Kavusoglu to go to Istanbul.
On behalf of the visiting Secretary of State, US officials told the delegation that they had been unable to travel to Ankara due to “scheduled complications”. They did not meet with senior Turkish officials with the intention of “disrespecting them”, which is not the case at all.
Ankara has harshly criticized US Secretary of State Pompeo’s remarks on religious freedom in Turkey last week. Pompeo also went to Turkey amid some tension between the two parties.
However, Pompeo’s encounter with the Orthodox priest Bartholomew, some four months after the restoration of Haya Sophia in Turkey as a mosque, did not go unnoticed by Ankara. The United States has criticized Turkey for turning Haya Sophia into a mosque.
Turkey has commented that the purpose of Pompeo’s visit is “absolutely inappropriate” due to the disturbing situation.
SS / HA / MKH
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