Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has secured a long-coveted invitation to the White House and is expected to travel to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden in May, Turkish media reported Tuesday.
Private news channel NTV said Erdogan was expected to arrive in Washington on May 9, but like other media outlets that shared the news, it did not provide the origin of the claim. U.S. officials contacted by Al-Monitor to confirm the visit had not responded by the time of publication. Turkish officials have not confirmed this information, but they have not refuted it either.
Erdogan was last formally received at the White House by President Donald Trump in May 2017 and has long lobbied the Biden administration for an official visit. Invitation apparently a quid pro quo for Erdogan’s endorsement Sweden’s membership in NATO after more than 20 months of foot dragging. The US seal of approval, as Erdogan likely sees it, will give his ruling Justice and Development Party a badly needed boost ahead of national elections due to take place on March 31. This advantage may explain why Turkish officials were able to leak the news, because they probably did.
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