Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and restore stability in Syria, Erdogan's office reported, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
He told Trump that Turkey supports his "decisive and direct initiatives" to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and that Turkey will continue to strive for a "just and lasting peace", the statement said.
Erdogan also spoke of "the importance of jointly contributing to the lifting of sanctions against Syria in order to restore stability, ensure the functioning of the new administration and support normalization", the statement said, adding that this would allow Syrians to return to their homeland.
Turkey also expects steps from the United States in terms of combating terrorism, taking into account Turkey's interests, the statement said.
In the fight against "Islamic State" in Syria, the United States is allied with a Syrian Kurdish militia, which Turkey considers a terrorist group. Turkey sharply criticized this US position as a betrayal of a NATO ally.
Erdogan said that it is necessary to end the sanctions (against Syria), finalize the process of purchasing F-16s from Ankara and restore its participation in the F-35 program in order to develop cooperation in the field of defense industry between Turkey and the United States.