US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan on his first foreign visit, on February 9.
Pompeo on Thursday discussed coordination with Turkey in carrying out a potential joint operation to combat the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria’s Raqqa, local media reported citing its source in the Turkish government.
Pompeo held negotiations with Hakan Fidan during his visit to Ankara. Following the meeting, both Fidan and Pompeo met with President Erdoğan to discuss the situation in Syria and in the Middle East.
His visit came two days after Erdoğan spoke to US President Donal Trump for the first time in his White House term, agreeing to work together in the fight against the Islamic State.
According to Hurriyet daily's well-connected and pro-government columnist Abdulkadir Selvi, when Erdoğan raised the issue of the fight against IS and the Syrian Kurdish militia, Trump said: "I am sending the CIA chief, you can speak with him in detail."
Erdoğan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said on Wednesday that discussions were under way with the US over efforts to retake Raqa from IS, with Trump giving a "positive" response to Turkish plans. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the Turkish troops would target Raqqa, after the retaking of the northern Syrian city of Al-Bab as part of the Euphrates Shield operation launched in August.
