Turkish sources: CIA chief to visit, discuss security issues

ANKARA — US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo will visit Turkey on Thursday in his first overseas visit to discuss security issues, including Turkey’s fight against a movement led by a US-based cleric accused of orchestrating the failed military coup, Turkish officials said, in a sign of improving relations between the allies. Pompeo’s visit was decided during a 45-minute telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Tuesday, according to officials from Erdogan’s office. They briefed a group of journalists Wednesday on condition of anonymity, in line with government regulations. The officials said Pompeo would also discuss the issue of Syrian Kurdish fighters — backed by the United States — which Ankara considers to be terrorists because of their affiliation with outlawed Kurdish rebels in Turkey. Turkey wants the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, extradited from the United States. It is also demanding that Washington stop backing the Syrian Kurdish groups. Ties between NATO allies Ankara and Washington were troubled under the Obama administration, with Turkey expressing frustrations over what it perceives as US reluctance to extradite Gulen and the support provided to the Syrian Kurdish fighters. The Obama administration regarded the fighters as the most effective group in the war against the Daesh group in Syria. Ankara has pinned hopes for improved ties on Trump’s presidency and the call was being closely watched in Turkey. — AP