International security

What's Behind the CIA Director's Visit to Turkey

CIA director Mike Pompeo is reported to have arrived in Ankara to meet with Turkish authorities, with the Syrian crisis and joint anti-Daesh activities expected to be high on the agenda. Defense analyst Koray Gurbuz told Sputnik Turkey that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should not agree to Washington's proposals, calling them "a trap."

Gurbuz, an expert at the Bilkent University and the former Chairman of the Turkish Veterans Council, suggested that Pompeo and Turkish authorities will also discuss Washington's support to the Syrian Kurds and the extradition of reclusive Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Erdogan has blamed for the botched attempt to remove him from power. The unsuccessful military coup shook Ankara and Istanbul on July 16, 2016.