Erdoğan hails Gaza meeting with Trump, regional leaders as 'very productive'

NEW YORK

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described a multilateral meeting on Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump and regional leaders as "very productive and positive," expressing his satisfaction with the discussions.

"We have just concluded a very, very productive and positive meeting. I’m satisfied—may the outcome be beneficial," Erdoğan told reporters outside the Turkevi Center in New York City on Tuesday.

The gathering, held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, brought together key figures from Muslim-majority nations to address the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

Asked if the summit could yield concrete steps toward peace and protecting civilians, Erdoğan indicated a joint declaration would be issued soon.

"The final declaration will likely be announced shortly. With statements from Trump and Tamim (Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani), the outcome of tonight’s meeting will be made clear," he said.

Trump, exiting the event, echoed the sentiment.

"We had a very good meeting concerning Gaza," he told reporters.

"It was a very successful meeting with all of the big players, except for Israel, but that's going to be next, and I think we can work something out on Gaza, but it was a very good meeting with great leaders."

Erdoğan to meet Trump at White House

Erdoğan and Trump also will meet at the White House on Sept. 25 to discuss a wide range of issues including bilateral trade and defense industry ties as well as regional developments.

This will be Erdoğan’s first White House meeting with Trump during the latter’s second presidential term. Their latest meeting took place in November 2019.

In Washington, Erdoğan and Trump are expected to continue their discussions on regional matters with a joint objective for ending the Israeli-Palestinian war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Although Erdoğan and Trump are on other pages when it comes Israel's genocidal acts on the Palestinians in Gaza, both leaders share that the conflict must end immediately. Erdoğan, in his address at the U.N. General Assembly, reiterated his call on the international community to act without delay to stop the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the hands of the Israeli army.

On Ukraine, Türkiye and the U.S. have been in close contacts for brokering a deal between Russia and Ukraine although efforts so far have not been materialized.

Erdoğan and Trump will also review the latest developments in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. Trump ordered lifting sanctions on Syria and interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president attending a U.N. General Assembly since 1967.

Cooperation in defense ties

Erdoğan and Trump will also prioritize enhancing bilateral ties, especially in trade and defense industry ties.

Türkiye is pressing for lifting the U.S. sanctions on the defense industry and returning the F-35 joint fighter program from which it was expelled in 2019 because of its purchase and deployment of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

Türkiye has paid around $1.4 billion for six F-35s but these fighters have not been delivered to Türkiye due to the S-400 issue.

Trump, in his message last week, suggested that talks with Erdoğan will include the sales of F-35 and F-16s as well as the sale of a large scale of Boeing passenger planes. Turkish Airlines and Boeing were in negotiations over the sale of around 200 planes.

Türkiye and the U.S. aim to increase their trade volume to $100 billion.