March 14, 2018 - 6:16 AM
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's foreign minister says he hopes to work with CIA director Mike Pompeo — who has been picked as the new U.S. secretary of state — in a "mutually respectful" manner.
Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments in Moscow on Wednesday during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart, in response to a question on whether Turkey is concerned by Pompeo's appointment to replace Rex Tillerson.
Pompeo is reported to have once described Turkey as a "totalitarian Islamist dictatorship" in a tweet.
Cavusoglu said Pompeo's appointment was America's "own decision."
The minister was scheduled to meet Tillerson in Washington on March 19 but said his trip could now be postponed.
The two NATO allies are trying to patch ties that were strained by Turkey's opposition to U.S. support to Syrian Kurdish militia.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018