Erdogan, Obama hold "candid" discussions on sidelines of G-20 summit

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend had talks with US President Barack Obama amid a downturn in Turkish-US relations following Ankara's vote against UN sanctions on Iran and the crisis over an Israeli raid last month on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Both Turkish and US officials described the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Toronto, Canada, as a clear and open conversation of two allies. "President Obama met in advance of the G-20 dinner with Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey on Saturday evening," said a White House statement. "The two leaders had a wide-ranging and candid discussion between allies that addressed Iran's nuclear program, Middle East peace, the flotilla incident, Afghanistan, the PKK and terrorism." When the Turkish side brought up the recent rise in attacks by the terrorist PKK, the US side pledged that its support for Turkey's fight against terrorism, as well as the two-year-old trilateral mechanism between Iraq, Turkey and the US in order to combat the PKK, would continue. Underlining the importance it places on bilateral ties between Israel and Turkey, the US side expressed uneasiness over the recent course of affairs in these relations and said Washington would continue to support resolution of the problems between the two. Thanking Obama for US help securing the release of flotilla activists detained following the raid by Israeli forces, which led to the deaths of nine Turkish citizens, Erdogan also reiterated Turkey's demand that Israel issue an official apology and offer restitution for the attack, and urged the complete lifting of Israel's Gaza blockade.