Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this morning that the United States and Turkey have agreed to work closely to resolve issues between them, following what the Turkish top diplomat noted was a “constructive” meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Cavusoglu and Pompeo met on the sidelines of a meeting of regional ministers in Singapore. Their talks came after Washington imposed sanctions on two of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ministers over the ongoing detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is accused of backing terrorism. On the matter of Syria, Minister Cavusoglu said that he and Secretary Pompeo had also discussed potential joint steps, which the two NATO allies could take regarding Syria’s Idlib and Manbij, where both countries have also been at odds. “I can say that it is a very constructive meeting. Of course, it is not expected to solve the crisis and all problems in just one meeting but we agreed on close co-operation, dialogue and working together in the following process for the solution of the problems. And when we return to our countries, we will keep taking steps together to solve those problems and work on it. We discussed this as well. Also, whilst solving those problems, we also discussed what kind of steps we can take to strengthen ties between the two countries, about the road map in Manbij, common working group for PKK, Idlib and other issues. I can say that the meeting today was in a constructive atmosphere and focused on solving problems,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
