US President Donald Trump congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Sunday’s referendum that gave him sweeping new powers. A press release from the White House stated that Trump called to congratulate Turkish president on Monday hours after Erdogan claimed a narrow victory in a contested referendum that granted him sweeping new powers. Underscoring the complicated relationship between the US and Turkey, the White House statement of Trump’s call also noted the pressing issues on which the US has tried to work with Turkey, namely fighting the Islamic State group and quelling Syria’s civil war. According to reports, Trump’s congratulatory message strikes a starkly different tone than the statement issued by the US State Department on Monday, which urged Erdogan to respect his citizens’ fundamental rights and noted the report’s findings of “irregularities on voting day and an uneven playing field during the difficult campaign period”.
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