![President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference following their meeting at the White House in Washington, United States on 13 November, 2019 [Halil Sağırkaya/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/20191113_2_39308548_49441944.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Turkiye-US ties may well gain new momentum during US President Donald Trump’s second term, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.
Speaking in the capital Ankara following a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan said that in a “cordial” phone call last week, he and Trump discussed many important issues, including removing all obstacles to the $100 billion trade target between the two countries.
The Turkish president added that he and Trump also discussed “critical developments in the region,” notably those in Syria.
“Despite all the difficulties in the region, despite the lobbies that try to poison cooperation between the two allies,” said Erdogan, he believes that Turkiye and the US will and must manage to cooperate “for the sake of our entire geography.”
Last week, in a phone call, Erdogan expressed his full confidence that Ankara and Washington will advance bilateral cooperation through solidarity, a result-oriented approach and in a sincere manner in the new era of relations.
During the Trump administration’s first term the US imposed sanctions on two top Turkish government officials over the detention of an American pastor, increasing tensions between the two states. It later imposed separate sanctions after Ankara agreed to buy weapons from Russia.
READ: European security ‘not possible’ without Turkiye: Erdogan says