İbrahim Kalın, spokesperson for the Turkish Presidency, said on Saturday that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to talk to US President Donald Trump in the coming days.
Speaking at a program in İstanbul to launch his book “Ben, Öteki ve Ötesi (I, the Other and Beyond),” Kalın said: “Now that there is a new administration in the US, our president will have a meeting [via phone] with him in the coming days. There will be a phone conversation and then contacts at various levels. We will continue to discuss issues [pertaining to the region].”
Since Trump was sworn in as the new US president on Jan. 20, he has yet to reply Erdoğan’s request to speak on the phone.
Following his election in November 2016, Erdoğan said he is keen to know the Trump administration’s approach on the issues of the Middle East, including the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
When asked about Trump’s travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim nations, Kalın said such bans are not useful and added that the consequences that could arise from such policies should be analyzed thoroughly.