U.S. Secy of State John Kerry met Wednesday with Turkey’s President Recep Tayip Erdogan and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry separately in Washington for what officials there called “brief visits.”
With Erdogan, Kerry discussed ongoing efforts to secure a political transition in Syria and assessed coalition efforts to “degrade and defeat Da’esh (ISIS) in the country.
The two men “reviewed the progress that has been made on the ground and discussed ways to strengthen [their] cooperation against this shared threat,” according to State Dept. Spokesperson John Kirby.
Erdogan has been visiting the United States this week for the opening of a new mosque in Maryland, about 10 miles from the White House. The new center is considered to be the largest Turkish mosque outside the country. The Diyanet Center of America, as it is called, is a vast complex with the capacity to seat 10,000 worshipers on a 60-acre site. In addition to the mosque, the site is home to a cultural center, Turkish bathhouse, 10 different representative Turkish homes, a museum and more. Workshops and cultural exhibits on traditions such as Islamic calligraphy, Turkish marbling and visual storytelling will be held there as well.
President Barack Obama has declined to attend the opening of the mosque event set for this Saturday morning (April 2), despite publicized reports last November that he would be there. Erdogan will be joined by Turkey’s head of religious affairs, Dr. Mehmet Gormez.
With Shoukry, Kerry discussed a range of regional and bilateral issues, including Libya and Syria, Kirby said.
The U.S. Secretary reiterated America’s “commitment to help Egypt fight terrorism, increase economic growth, govern democratically, and bolster regional security,” according to a statement by Kirby.
Kerry and Shoukry “also discussed the importance of easing restrictions on association and expression in Egypt” and that of “allowing human rights non-governmental organizations to operate freely.”