Turkish President Erdoğan accepts Trump invitation to visit White House
https://www.axios.com/erdogan-white-house-visit-trump-turkey-0d98ce9a-74a5-48b0-8ab2-e4f9dd8842b9.html
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accepted an invitation from President Trump to visit the White House next month, Reuters reports.
Driving the news: Erdoğan accepted the invitation during a call with Trump in which the Turkish president expressed dissatisfaction over the U.S military's apparent failure to implement a safe zone agreement in northeast Syria. Erdogan wants the safe zone to be established to eliminate threats from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which is supported by the U.S. but considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.
The big picture: Trump has been criticized in the past for his warm relations with strongmen like Erdoğan, who has consolidated power and cracked down on the media and political dissenters over the past few years. Other authoritarian-minded leaders to visit the White House include Hungary's Viktor Orbán, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Flashback: During Erdoğan's last visit to the White House in 2017, Turkish security personnel attacked Kurdish protestors in Washington. Fifteen of the bodyguards were indicted, but charges were later dropped in March 2018 ahead of a meeting between Erdoğan and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Erdogan says U.S. troops started withdrawal from northeast Syria after Trump call
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-erdogan/erdogan-says-us-troops-started-withdrawal-from-northeast-syria-after-trump-call-idUSKBN1WM0M1
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that U.S. troops had started to withdraw from parts of northeast Syria after his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that talks between Turkish and U.S. officials on the matter would continue.
On Sunday, the White House said Turkey will soon move forward with its long-planned military operation to create what it calls a “safe zone” in northern Syria and U.S. forces will not support or be involved in it.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara before departing for a visit to Serbia, Erdogan also said he planned to visit Washington to meet with Trump in the first half of November. He said the two leaders would discuss plans for the “safe zone”, and added that he hoped to resolve a dispute over F-35 fighter jets during his visit.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-usa/erdogan-trump-discuss-syria-safe-zone-in-phone-call-to-meet-next-month-ankara-idUSKBN1WL0IS
REUTERS
https://www.reuters.com