(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone and tamped down their public rhetoric Monday after the U.S. president warned the country risked economic ruin if it defies him.
Trump tweeted Sunday that should Erdogan launch an attack on Kurdish forces in Syria it “will devastate Turkey economically.” Both leaders took a more conciliatory stance after a phone call Monday.
Trump said in a tweet after the call that the two spoke about “all matters including our last two weeks of success in fighting remnants of ISIS” and “economic development between the U.S. & Turkey - great potential to substantially expand!”
According to a statement by the Turkish presidency, Erdogan assured Trump that Turkey will support the U.S. as it prepares to pull troops out of Syria.
The two leaders also agreed that a road map for the key Syrian town of Manbij should be completed, referring to an earlier agreement to have Syrian Kurdish forces withdraw from the area.
The Kurdish forces have been key allies in U.S. efforts to defeat Islamic State in Syria, but Erdogan considers them terrorists.
To contact the reporters on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.net;Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Molly Kissler at mkissler@bloomberg.net, ;Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Larry Liebert
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