Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Wednesday came together with senior Republican politician and Tennessee Senator Bob Corker in Washington. The meeting lasted over an hour and was held at the hotel, where Yıldırım is staying during his U.S. visit.
Yıldırım and Corker, who also serves as the current chairman of the U.S. Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations, were accompanied by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, Turkey's Ambassador to Washington Serdar Kılıç, Prime Ministry Advisor on Foreign Affairs Kerim Uras and Advisor İhsan Durdu, pro-government media reported.
"We talked about a large range of issues, including some specific ones, between the two countries. There are a lot of issues we have to overcome," Corker told state-run Anadolu agency, adding that time was needed to solve these problems
Prime Minister Yıldırım arrived Tuesday in the U.S. where he will be until Nov. 11. Yıldırım will hold bilateral talks with Vice President Mike Pence.
During his meeting with Pence, Yıldırım will supply new evidence to bolster Turkey's demand that the U.S. extradite Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who lives in Pennsylvania. The network of Gülen was one of the masterminds of the military coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016.
The Turkish AKP government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have also lobbied for the release of Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader in jail awaiting trial on money-laundering and conspiracy charges to begin Nov. 27 in New York. Erdoğan has said the United States is attempting to turn Zarrab on him. Zarrab may have reached a plea agreement or prosecutors have decided to drop the charges against him, U.S. news outlets reported, after his co-defendant, a Turkish state bank executive, filed court documents saying the 34-year-old gold dealer was no longer participating in the case.
Yıldırım will also get together with opinion leaders and representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities in New York and Washington.
