Turkey's Erdogan and Trump may meet soon: Turkish official

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump may soon have a face-to-face meeting, either in Turkey or on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan next month, a senior Turkish official said on Wednesday.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official said Erdogan had invited Trump to Turkey and that there were "positive signals" the American president would accept the invitation.

"We are working on the calendar now," the official said. "We have some positive signals but the time has not been scheduled yet. They may meet on the margins of G20 in Japan as well," he said. "For a bilateral visit, we are waiting for an exact date."

The United States and Turkey have been at loggerheads recently, primarily due to Ankara's planned purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, which Washington says are incompatible with the NATO defense network and would pose a threat to U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jets which Turkey also plans to buy.

Earlier, Turkey's defense minister said it was preparing for potential U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, even while he said there was some improvement in talks with the United States over buying F-35 fighter jets.

While Washington has warned that Ankara will face sanctions under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if it presses on with the deal, Turkey has said it expected Trump to protect it.

Speaking to reporters late on Tuesday, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey was fulfilling its responsibilities in the F-35 project and expected the program to continue as planned. He said buying the S-400s was only meant to meet Turkey's defense needs and posed no threats.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and several prominent U.S. senators have warned Turkey it will face penalties for buying the S-400s, under legislation which calls for sanctions against countries procuring military equipment from Russia. Turkey says as a NATO member it poses no threat to the United States and the sanctions should not apply.

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey during the UN General Assembly in New York, September 21, 2017. /Reuters Photo)

Source(s): Reuters