Trump, Erdoğan agree to improve ties after Turkish leader's re-election

U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday on his election victory and the two leaders agreed to improve bilateral defence and security ties, Erdoğan's office said.

In their phone conversation, Trump and Erdoğan also emphasised the need to implement an existing plan in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, it said in a statement.

Trump and Erdoğan will meet in Brussels for a NATO summit on July 11-12, the statement added.

According to Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK), on Sunday President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won an absolute majority in the presidential election with 52.5 percent of the vote, while his closest rival was behind at 30.6 percent, with 99.9 percent of ballot boxes opened.

In the parliamentary polls, the People's Alliance of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Justice and Development (AK) Party won 53.6 percent of the votes, with 99.9 percent of ballot boxes opened.