Out fine. Ok . Thank you. President trump and turkish president aragon held a press conference. They announced they will release a scientist detained on terrorism charges since the failed military coup in turkey. The News Conference was held in the east room of the white house. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States and the president of the republic of turkey. And the president of the republic of turkey. President trump thank you very much. Please. I want to begin by welcoming the first lady with us today and the first lady of turkey. Thank you very much for being here. It is a great honor to have you. We had a very productive meeting. Before we start, i would like to think president erdogan for releasing a detainee who was in detention. Ry much for being here. It is a great honor to have you. We had a very productive meeting. Before we start, i would like to think president erdogan for who was in detainee detention. I appreciate that verythat was. He will becoming back at some point in the nottoodistant future. Thats very good news for the United States and turkey. Turkey is a great nato ally. Our economic relationship is tremendous. It continues to expand and grow. They are essential to ensuring prosperity and promise for our citizens. Over the course of the day, we had a frank and productive conversation on important topics. Among those topics, we discussed the situation in syria. Last month, i had mike pompeo with us. The security advisor, obrien. And ending all of the hostilities and negotiations were very successful. They achieved a tremendous amount on that day and i think we are working toward getting it better and better. Its a complicated situation, its been going on for hundreds of years. Today, the ceasefire continues to hold. I want to think the president for his cooperation as we work to build a more stable and peaceful middle east. We assured each other that turkey will continue to uphold, im a big fan of the president. I know the ceasefire while complicated, moving forward at a very rapid rate, theres a lot of people who want to see that work after so many decades. The u. S. And turkey are working on many other security issues. Turkey is the second Largest Armed forces. They are very strong in the second. I believe turkey has been increasing the defense spending and is close to 2 of gdp range unlike many other countries. There are eight out of 28 that are current. Turkey has made a vital contribution, Resolute Support mission in afghanistan and they are important to our disruption. Recently when we took out baghdad, turkey new we were going over areas. We appreciate that very much. We are grateful to the citizens of turkey for their cooperation. In the constant struggle against terrorism, he fights it like we do. Collaboration is trade defense and military equipment program. American to turkey, many billions of dollars and turkey supplies component for us who Many American defense programs for the f45. Turkey is sophisticated russian military, such as the is 400. It creates serious challenges for us. We are talking about it constantly. We talked about it today and we will in the future. I hope we will be able to resolve it. Weve asked our secretary of to immediately work on resolving the s 400 issue. Weve also recently agreed to work toward a 100 billion twoway trade agreement. Secretary ross is here. I think weve made tremendous progress in that. We have a lot of trade with turkey. It could be many times larger. Turkey would like to see that and it would be good for the United States. We intend to bring it up to 100 billion. That would be four times what it is right now. Our goal is to expand commerce between the United States and turkey, reduce our trade deficit, and ensure a truly reciprocal relationship. We are, for those of you that have any interest, we discussed it today, our trade agreement with china is moving along very rapidly. We will see what happens. It is moving along rapidly. China wants to make a deal. One of my chief priorities as president has been removing the barriers to american trade and investment and ending the illicit practices that harm our workers. We encourage turkey to open its markets and they are doing that. They are doing that. Very much. Toward American Goods and services, our markets are open, turkey is opening up their markets rapidly. Weeks,ave seen in recent the u. S. Turkish alliance could be a powerful force for security and stability. Not only in the middle east but beyond. I look forward to working with you and with your representatives. Ive gotten to become very familiar with all of you. I really appreciate it, you are doing a fantastic job for the people of turkey. I look forward to continuing to find a common ground, harness common purpose, and advance the vital interest of our people. The abiding friendship between our nations, we have a great withionship personally and the great country of turkey. We look forward to moving that forward and making it an even better relationship. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause] mr. President , my dear friend, distinguished miniatures ministers, members of the press, i would like to salute you with my most heartfelt emotions on behalf of myself and my nation. First and foremost, i would like to thank my friend President Trump in the first lady of the United States for being such gracious hosts today. Weve managed to discuss all the issues in our agendas with the president author of the day. The discussions were very sincere. We all agree that we need to further profound our confirmation and our relationship should be erected on a strong foundation. Inshould remain resolved order to open a new chapter in our relations which are in full compliance with our deeply rooted alliance. We have reciprocally stated are will to fight terrorist organizations, imposing a clear and present danger upon our national security. We have underlined the significance of fighting against isis in a sustained fashioned, especially in the aftermath of the death of baghdadi. We have obtained several prisoners trying to flee the prisons in syria and come to turkey. 200urrently have more than terrorists incorporated incarcerated. With our operation initiated on october 9, turkey took another step forward in fighting terrorism and a resolute fashion. Operationy with this had an impact on the separatist agenda of terrorist organizations in syria. In order to further strengthen our cooperation in syria, we believe we have gained a significant momentum with our october 17 agreement. Our memorandum. In order to harm this memorandum, they are attacking our soldiers in the civilians in a very provocative fashion. In the last 44 hours, more than 19 attacks and harassing shots to place. At the beginning of this month, in an outdoorced market. As a result of the explosion, 13 civilian lives were lost. It is vital that these developments, we are reiterating our commitment to our memorandum, our agreement with the United States. Some circles for empathetic towards these terrorist organizations. They are deeply upset and disturbed and they are using this information in order to cloud the understanding of the public opinion. Goal of eventual harming our relations. Developments and allegations are being used in order to dynamite our goal and bilateral relations. Especially in the house of representatives, some of the resolutions that were passed on october 29 served this very purpose and hurt the turkish nation. They have a potential of casting a deep shadow over our bilateral relations. I shared this information with mr. President. 104 yearsonmakers ago should not be politicians but historians. We have nothing to hide. Clearlyo state very that we are on the side of dialogue and open discussion and debate. We have voiced our proposals to the Armenian Party to open the archives and establish a history commission. I believe the senate will take the United States out of this vicious cycle which happened as a result of the resolution of the house of her executives. Turkey and the United States stand sidebyside to bring peace and stability to syria once and for all. For this purpose, we should keep on working together. Should be the most reliable partner of the United States in this region to retrieve these targets. We are the only nato ally who has fought highest in a resolved fashion. We have detained some fighters. We have sent them back to their countries of origin. Who are considered to be affiliated with terrorist organizations. Prisons, 1269 members are incarcerated coming from 40 Different Countries. Have quite recently detained 287 individuals who have fled the prisons. Our country is being showcased as the target. This terrorist organization caused 304 citizens to die, against which we are going to keep on fighting. Its very important to understand that foreign fighters should be accepted by the countries of oregon. We have the same understanding with President Trump in order to convince the countries of origin to do this. A border with syria. When the war broke out nine years ago, we were the ones at the forefront impacted heavily. Have 3,650,000 Syrian Refugees. More than 4 billion refugees. 4 million refugees. Billion onnt 40 these refugees in our country. Euros only sent 3 billion despite a higher pledge. , we areour ngos providing sustained humanitarian aid to more than 3 Million People living on the syrian territory. 2015, at the g20 summit, i launch an appeal in order tos to establish a safe sown in syria. Hundreds of thousands of civilians lives were lost. This problem cannot continue forever. Shield anderation olive branch, we have cleared an area of 4000 square kilometers of terrorist presence. Proposals ofthe the president. Its important to realize our goals. I said operation shield and olive branch. Through these operations, we to send syrians back to their motherlands, and thanks to the operation, we have secured many towns and villages in the rightful settlers are going back. We have shared our projects with President Trump and our separate plans for the safe down. With the support of the United Nations and international community, we can repatriate many more Syrian Refugees in the northern part of syria. We are talking about an area of 404 kilometers in length and 32 kilometers and death. One Million People can be repassed rated. Repatriated. A total of 2 million refugees can be repatriated. Know, a terrorist organization attempted to destroy the Constitutional Order of turkey. A failed coup attempt. It is a terrorist Organization Behind this failed coup. They have killed 251 individuals, harming 200 193 citizens. They even dared to bomb our parliament. Again accentuated our expectations visavis our friends at the u. S. Once and for all, eradicate such a presence here. Discussed with President Trump how to achieve the 100 billion trade volume threshold as soon as possible. Confuseve we should not political instance with commerce related aspirations. Our secretaries of commerce are currently heavily invested in achieving the 100 billion threshold. We hope and pray that we shy away from certain measures which will make it much more challenging for us to reach these targets. We have also quite naturally discussed our deep affiliations in the field of the defense industry. Program, we can only surmount the hurdles that we experience through dialogue. My dear friend previously stated in osaka the injustice orchestrated against turkey in terms of the acquisition of patriot missiles. We have clearly stated to President Trump that under suitable circumstances, we could acquire patriot missiles as well. As turkey, we are ready and committed to sustain a very constructive dialogue with the United States congress. Mind, ise thoughts in pray that our discussions and deliberations through the day will yield auspicious results. Thanks President Trump for their kind invitation and being such gracious host throughout the day. On behalf of myself and my delegation, i would like to thank you. [applause] thank you very much. I called up the senate. I asked a couple of our senators. We ended up with five and others wanting to come. We will keep them apprised. Some of them joined us. They are happy to be here. Ted cruz, thank you very much. Lindsey graham, thank you. Rick scott, thank you very much. Joni is here. These are people that want to see peace in the middle east. I thought it would be appropriate to have them come over. They met with the president. We had a lot of very frank discussions. We are dealing with a very big subject, a complex subject that has been going on for centuries in many cases. Are making a lot of progress, tremendous progress in the middle east. Ok. A couple of questions. Go ahead. What is your general reaction today to the impeachment hearings on the hill . Do you feel that democrats made their case . How did you feel about the republican performance . You are talking about the witchhunt . Is that what you are talking about . I hear its a joke. I have not watched for one minute because i been with the president which is much more important as far as im concerned, this is a sham and it should not be allowed, it was a situation that was caused by people that should not have allowed it to happen. I want to find out who the whistleblowers because the whistleblower gave a lot of Incorrect Information including my call with the president of ukraine which was the perfect call. And highly appropriate. And he wrote something that was much different than the fact, i want to find out why the ig wouldve presented that when in fact all they had to do with check the call themselves and they couldve seen it. I will be releasing on thursday, a second call which was the first of the two and you will make a determination as to what do you think they are. But ive heard just the report, they said all thirdhand information, nothing direct at all, it cannot be direct because they never said it. And all they have to do is look very simply at the transcript. If you look at the transcript , this was analyzed by great lawyers, greg. Analyzed by mark levin, analyzed by everybody. They said that the statement that i made about the whole call that i made with the president of ukraine was a perfect one. So this country gets put through that and we have to waste this gentlemans time by even thinking about it or talking about it and id much rather focus on the middle east, i hear that its a hoax and being played as a hoax. Thats what i hear. But you have to tell me. If i may, the president talked about repatriating Syrian Refugees back to their homeland, have you had those discussions with european leaders . No. I think frankly europe should be paying for this. As of this moment, turkey has been paying for most of it and i think the president was saying today they have spent over 40 billion on the cost of that. How much . [inaudible] 40, thats what i said. Whatever. They spent a lot. [laughter] theyre given me all these different number, i heard it was 40 billion, is 40 billion correct . So 40 billion, i heard that number from others. Thats a lot. Europe has contributed about three and a lot of these people would go all throughout europe and it would be a devastating situation for europe, they have 4 Million People and a lot of courage that theyre helping and taking care. So i have spoken to europe about it, i think they should help us with isis because many of them left france and germany and the u. K. They left Different Countries and these countries should help us because if they ever did get released which we will not be doing, if they ever did thats where they want to go and go back to france and germany and uk and all those other countries that are not helping us, i gave them the option, would you like to have them back and intelligently they said no thank you. That is not right and not fair. I tell you also, turkey captured some escaped to in the conflict when they had the heavy shooting and i think i know how they happened to escape but its one of those things that does not matter because turkey captured everybody that escaped plus an Additional Group when we took over. When i became president , isis was rampant all over the middle east and as of about a month ago, i think we can say we have 100 of the caliphate. It will always try to grow but they have not been able to do that and what we did last week with albaghdadi who is the absolute founder and leader, we set them back and we also got his number two and we have our sights set on number three. They will not be going too fast. I will say turkey has been helping us a lot. I have a question for president erdogan. With that youre calling along a realignment along the Northern Syria border, a lot of christians in that region are feeling very vulnerable. People are on the ground are saying attacks against christians are crazy. They are not feeling safe and welcome. Can you guarantee the turkish government will protect christians in that region . There was an attack this week. Thank you. Contrary, christian minorities is an area were specially looking into and we have different plans. Whether it be the ones remaining on the side of syria whose sanctuaries have been just destroyed, whose churches who have been destroyed. They will see their sanctuaries getting revived. Their churches will be reconstructed so they can go back and start praying again as again. These are the plans we are making for them. As i said before, the christian , the ones living on our side of the border have no problems whatsoever. But the ones remaining on the syrian territory will see their worshiping practices restored and revised in a special manner. They are receiving healthcare, humanitarian aid in every aspect possible. Thank yo