Turkey's President congratulates Trump after US strains

pulse

November 9, 2016 10:55 PM

Erdogan swiftly telephoned Trump to pass on his congratulations and wish him success, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "a new era is beginning" in the United States with Trump's victory after two terms of Democrat-held presidency

The warm reception from Ankara for Trump's stunning win came as the two key NATO allies seek to overcome disputes ranging from Syria to the extradition of the alleged mastermind of the July 15 failed Turkish coup.

The pair expressed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and continue cooperation on regional and international issues, including the "fight against terrorism", the statement added.

Erdogan has in the past lambasted the Islamophobia that Trump's critics have accused the tycoon of espousing.

Trump caused consternation in December 2015 by mooting a ban on all Muslims travelling to the United States.

But Erdogan had said in a speech in Ankara earlier that "a new era is beginning" in the United States with Trump's victory after two terms of Democrat-held presidency.

He expressed hope the election of Trump "will help the taking of good steps regarding rights and freedoms in the world and also developments in the region."

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim earlier also congratulated Trump but also urged the president-elect to as soon as possible extradite the US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of masterminding the coup bid. Gulen denies the charges.

"If you extradite in a short time the head of a terror organisation who has damaged our historic friendship, I am sure that you can give Turkish-US relations a new start and open a new page," Yildirim said.

American authorities are studying the evidence against Gulen provided by Turkey before deciding on extradition. The slowness of the process has caused frustration in Ankara.

US-Turkish relations have worsened since the July 15 coup, which some ruling party figures even suggested Washington had a hand in instigating.

Turkey and the US have also locked horns over the ongoing civil war in Syria, in particular the role of the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Washington backs the YPG as a key force driving back Islamic State jihadists but Ankara regards the group as a terror organisation bent on carving out an autonomous Kurdish region on Turkey's borders.

Ankara was deeply alarmed in the election campaign by comments from Trump's vanquished Democratic rival Hillary Clinton who proposed arming the YPG with "the equipment they need".

Erdogan spat back in October that the proposal was "politically inept".

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