ANKARA (Sputnik) — Obama, after meeting with Erdogan in Washington, said that he was concerned about some areas of Turkey's policy, including the human rights situation and the authorities' actions toward the country's media. The US leader said he had expressed his concern to Erdogan directly.
"I have been saddened that this kind of statement has been made in my absence. These issues did not come up on the agenda in our meeting with Mr. Obama," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Hurriyet daily.
In early March, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby called on the Turkish authorities to respect freedom of the press in light of the court-ordered placement of the Zaman newspaper into trusteeship, shutting of other media outlets and filing of insult charges against journalists.
