Turkey's presidential spokesman meets with US national security adviser

By Mehmet Tosun

NEW YORK (AA) - Turkey's presidential spokesman met Wednesday with the US national security adviser at the White House.

According to a statement issued by the presidential spokesperson’s office, Ibrahim Kalin and Jake Sullivan discussed bilateral relations, the coronavirus pandemic and climate change as well as developments in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Kalin and Sullivan underlined the strategic significance of Turkey-US relations and exchanged views on steps to be taken to improve economic cooperation.

They noted that the number of reciprocal high-level visits should be increased and said the mechanisms necessary to reach a targeted trade volume of $100 billion between the two countries should be set to work.

They also emphasized that international cooperation is necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to deliver humanitarian aid to the country.

Acknowledging that close contacts between NATO and the UN will continue on the issue of Afghanistan, Kalin and Sullivan drew attention to the solidarity among NATO allies and added that problems between them should be resolved through negotiations.

They went on to evaluate the latest situation in the Caucasus after the Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and also stressed the importance of multilateral efforts in maintaining regional peace and stability.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara