U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Thursday in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, opening an overseas trip that comes as the U.S. examines its next steps in the campaign to defeat Islamic State militants and stabilize the refugee crisis with allies in the region, Voice of America reports.
Tillerson was also scheduled to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The talks are expected to include Turkey pressing its case for the U.S. to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of being behind a failed coup attempt last year.
Later in the trip, the top U.S. diplomat will press NATO allies to demonstrate a clear path to increase defense spending, in his first meeting with counterparts from this security bloc.