The Presidents of the United States and Turkey, Barack Obama and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met in the United States. WSJ reported this week that Erdogan was denied a personal meeting with the American leader, but the Turkish president denied this

US President Barack Obama met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is stated in a statement from the White House, reports Reuters .

During the meeting, the parties discussed joint efforts to combat the Islamic State (banned in Russia). “Obama expressed condolences to President Erdogan on behalf of the Americans regarding the terrorist attack in Diyarbakir,” the White House said. The US President also announced Washington's support for Turkey's security.

This week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing its sources in the White House, that the American president refused to hold a personal meeting with Erdogan . The Turkish president came to the United States as part of a nuclear security summit.

As the newspaper's sources reported, the US President refused to join the Turkish leader at the opening ceremony of a mosque in Maryland, as well as from an official bilateral meeting. At the same time, WSJ interlocutors explained that we are not talking about a formal refusal, since the heads of state do not have “stable schedules.”

Later, the Turkish President denied this information. He said he would hold talks with Obama during his visit to Washington. At the same time, according to him, the duration and agenda of this meeting will depend on the schedule of events during the summit.

White House spokesman Joshua Earnest admitted the possibility of an informal meeting of the leaders . He also called on the absence of an official meeting not to be taken as an insult to the Turkish president. Bilateral negotiations with Erdogan were on the schedule of US Vice President Joseph Biden

The US and Türkiye have recently been at odds over the issue of the Kurds. The Kurdistan Workers' Party is recognized as a terrorist organization by both countries, while Washington considers Kurdish militias in Syria to be its allies in the fight against Islamists. Ankara, in turn, considers them part of the PKK.

Obama and Erdogan met in Washington