Turkey’s Erdogan Re-Evaluates Plans to Meet With Pence and Pompeo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses people demonstrating against the failed military coup attempt in Turkey, via video conferencing in Ankara, Turkey, on July 24, 2016. President Donald Trump attends a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2017. (Yasin Bulbul/AFP/Getty Images);

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Sky News that he would not meet with a U.S. delegation visiting Ankara, that delegation members would only be talking with their counterparts. Erdogan said he would only meet with President Trump.

Vice President Mike Pence said on Oct. 14 that he was dispatched to the Middle East by President Donald Trump. Pence will lead a U.S. delegation to Turkey to meet with the Turkish leader. The delegation includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O'Brien who will depart on Oct. 16 to Ankara hoping to negotiate a resolution to the recent conflict in Syria.