Erdogan denies to meet Pompeo, Pence visiting Turkey over Syria tensions

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that he won't be meeting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence as they visit Ankara to discuss Syria issue, AFP reported on Wednesday.

The US is being "very tough" on Turkey and has imposed the strongest sanctions, President Donald Trump had said earlier, as a delegation headed by Vice President Mike Pence prepares to leave for Ankara on Wednesday to press the Turks to stop their military offensive in northern Syria.

#BREAKING Erdogan says won't meet Pence, Pompeo on Ankara visit pic.twitter.com/6wZGef3av9

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 16, 2019

Pompeo, on the other hand, on Wednesday said he and Pence expect to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan when they travel to Turkey this week. The US delegation is scheduled to depart Washington Wednesday evening, according to the White House.

US and Turkey have been at loggerheads ever since President Donald Trump's abrupt decision this month to withdraw US forces from northeast Syria left the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) at the mercy of Turkish troops and their Syrian proxies.

The Kurds say hundreds of imprisoned relatives of militants from the Islamic State group -- also known as ISIS -- have escaped since Turkey launched its assault last week, although Trump suggested the SDF may have deliberately released them to gain leverage.