Trump very concerned about instability, will not tolerate Turkish invasion in Syria: Pence

CAIRO – 16 October 2019: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that he and Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara despite the foreign leader earlier saying he would not attend.

“At this point, the vice president and I are planning to take off later this afternoon,” Pompeo said.

He further said that the meeting is important because the U.S, officials “need to have this conversation with him directly.”

Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien were scheduled to travel to Turkey in an effort to discuss Ankara’s military actions in neighboring Syria.

Erdogan earlier told Sky News that he would not meet with the U.S. delegation led by Pence, and would only meet with president Donald Trump.

The Trump administration recently imposed tariffs on Turkey in response to the Turkish military invading Syria and attacking the Kurds, who fought alongside the U.S. against ISIS.

Pence on Tuesday said Trump is "very concerned about instability in the region," and that the U.S. is "simply not going to tolerate Turkey's invasion of Syria any longer."

Erdogan claimed the international community had not done enough to help Turkey with the millions of Syrian refugees the country took in, therefore, he decided to invade Syria, displace its residents, and kills its civilians.