The schedule of Mike Pompeo’s visit to Constantinople will not include meetings with Turkish government officials, a senior State Department official confirmed, saying it would be a brief visit focusing on religious freedom. As the State Department official explained, the US Secretary of State will meet only with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and two other religious leaders in Constantinople.
“There are no scheduled meetings with Turkish officials. We just have a very tight schedule in Constantinople and I think senior Turkish officials have also planned their own trips. It’s just a matter of planning. We come to Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarch resides. The schedule is very tight and I also understand that Turkish officials, including the president and the foreign minister, have their own travel plan and will not be there.”
Source: ANA-MPA