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ISTANBUL
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his US counterpart Donald Trump had promised to "give instructions" to his cabinet members regarding the Halkbank case.
"We talked [with Trump] the steps towards Halkbank regarding the well-known financial problem. He told me that he would immediately give instructions to his cabinet members on this issue, "Erdoğan said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Istanbul on Nov. 3. .
Erdoğan added that he would meet Trump on the sidelines of an international meeting to be held in Paris on November 10 and 11, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended at the First World War.
Last summer, Turkey allegedly attempted to persuade the United States to save its Halkbank a fine for allegedly helping Iran evade US sanctions.
Turkey exempts US sanctions on Iranian oil: Minister
Erdoğan also called on the PYD / YPG militants, considered by Ankara as the Syrian branch of the illegal PKK, to leave northwestern Syria, Manbij "as soon as possible".
"Our goal is the exit of Manbij's PYD / YPG terrorist groups as soon as possible," Erdoğan told the joint press conference with Poroshenko at the end of the 7th meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between Ukraine and Turkey, 3 November.
On 2 November, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense broadcast an excerpt of the first round of the Turkey-USA tournament. joint patrols in Manbij under the agreement between the two countries.
The Manbij agreement between Turkey and the United States focuses on the withdrawal of the YPG from the city in order to stabilize the region, located northeast of the Syrian province of Aleppo.
In its more than 30 years of terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK – considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has caused the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.
Turkey-Ukraine links
Regarding Turkish-Ukrainian relations, Erdoğan pointed out that the number of tourists coming from Ukraine to Turkey exceeded one million in 2018.
"We will continue to strengthen our relations with Ukraine," said Erdoğan.
He said Turkey wanted a speedy settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine by "diplomatic and peaceful means".
Turkey has never recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea and will never do so in the future, added the Turkish president.
In March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea after a controversial referendum, which provoked the international community as Russian soldiers occupied the region during the voting process.
For his part, Mr Poroshenko said the leaders of both countries had given the necessary instructions for signing a free trade agreement "as soon as possible".
Erdoğan said senior Saudi officials had ordered Khashoggi's strike
