Top Turkish, US officials meet in Washington, DC for talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser on Foreign Policy and Security, Akif Cagatay Kilic met Wednesday with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz for talks.

During his visit to Washington, DC, Kilic also held talks with President Donald Trump's Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg as well as members of the US Congress, including Sen. Jim Risch, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast.

Participating in roundtable meetings upon invitation from various think-tanks based in the US, Kilic drew attention to Türkiye-US relations as well as Türkiye's proposed solutions to regional conflicts and clashes and steps that could be taken together with the US and European allies to establish regional stability.

Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also in the US capital to meet his American counterpart Marco Rubio to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the need for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting followed up on issues discussed during a March 16 phone call between Erdogan and Trump.

Erdogan said Monday that relations with the US can gain "significant momentum."

"We have discussed many important issues, including the lifting of all the obstacles before our $100 billion trade goal, during our pretty sincere phone call. We discussed in detail current critical developments in our region, Syria in particular," he told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.