WASHINGTON
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his accompanying delegation arrived in US.
At his arrival in Washington Joint Base Andrews Naval air facility, Prime Minister Erdogan was welcomed with full military ceremony. Erdogan's spouse Emine Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also arrived in Washington.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, National Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, as well as a group of nearly 100 Turkish businesspeople accompany Erdogan during his US visit.
White House press secretary expected Turkish pm and US president to discuss Reyhanli blasts
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "the US visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlines the close partnership between Turkey and the US."
Touching on weekend's blasts in Turkey's Reyhanli town where is near the Syrian border, Carney said, "first of all, the United States condemns the car bombings in Reyhanli over the weekend, and we stand with Turkey against such horrific violence. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and our thoughts are with those who were wounded."
"It is important to note always but particularly appropriate with the arrival of the prime minister that Turkey is one of our strongest partners. We have worked shoulder to shoulder with the Turks to counter terror threats, and this attack will only strengthen our resolve to work together to protect our people and fight instability and violence in the region," added Carney at a daily press meeting.
Carney noted, "this is something that I fully expect, this incident -- Reyhanli blasts --, will be a matter of discussion between the Prime Minister Erdogan and the US President Barack Obama."
Carney pointed out that as friends and NATO allies, Turkey and the US were partners in addressing a range of critical global and regional issues, Erdogan and Obama would discuss the Syria issue clearly.
"They will also talk about stability in the Middle East, trade and economic cooperation and countering global terrorism overall. Prime Minister Erdogan's visit underscores the close friendship between Turkey and the US, and the strategic importance we place on broadening and deepening that relationship moving forward," he said.
