On Nov. 24, an important telephone conversation took place between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump's tweet before this phone call with Erdoğan was very meaningful and striking. Trump said in that tweet:

"Will be speaking to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey this morning about bringing peace to the mess that I inherited in the Middle East. I will get it all done, but what a mistake, in lives and dollars ($6 trillion), to be there in the first place!"

Since the phone call coincided with the meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) supreme decision-making body, the Central Executive Committee (MKYK), of which I am also a member, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım started the meeting.

The first statement after the phone call came from the Turkish side, which said that the leaders discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views regarding the Syrian war and regional matters. Erdoğan shared information with Trump about the Sochi summit, and the two leaders also discussed the fight against terrorism. They stressed the importance of strengthening relations and agreed on the joint fight against all terrorist organizations, including Daesh, the PKK, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and similar groups.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoğlu, who was also present during the phone call, summed up the meeting as follows:

"Our president shared information about the Sochi summit. Actually, views of Russia and the U.S. overlap, just as ours do with those of the U.S., on many issues regarding the integration into the Geneva process on Syria and its legitimization and a political solution. Of course, there are also issues on which we diverge. Just as we opposed the YPG's participation in a Syrian national dialogue congress in Sochi, Iran also objected to that idea. As you already saw in the statement issued there, we said clearly that there is no place for terrorist organizations at such a conference; that especially groups with no respect for Syria's borders and territorial integrity cannot participate in that congress. The three countries will jointly discuss and decide on who will be invited to the congress.

"Our president has very clearly also said to Mr. Trump that the YPG shouldn't be allowed to take part in such an initiative. One of the issues that damages our relationship with the U.S. most is the provision of arms to the YPG, in addition to FETÖ and other matters. Lately, we saw that armored vehicles were delivered as well. Our president conveyed our concerns to Mr. Trump once again. And Mr. Trump said he had given clear instructions that the YPG not be given arms anymore, and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago."

A White House statement released later essentially confirmed, even if indirectly, what Turkey said about the PKK's Syrian offshoot Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed People's Protection Units (YPG).

The White House said:

"Consistent with our previous policy, President Trump informed President Erdoğan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria now that the battle of Raqqa is complete, and we are progressing in a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS [Daesh] cannot return."

Of course, other remarks from the Turkish side were quite cautious. To tell the truth, I also wonder how the U.S. will behave from now on, because, unfortunately, the U.S. administration has not kept its promises to its ally Turkey on especially the heavy weapons delivered to the YPG and on Manbij. We will wait and see how quickly and to what extent the matters touched upon and agreed to in the phone call with Trump will actually be implemented on the ground.

A new era?

Obviously, this telephone conversation is different from previous contacts like the meeting in Hamburg that preceded broken promises. There had been important changes on the ground in the meantime. The Sochi meeting created real synergy between Turkey, Russia and Iran regarding the Syrian civil war. Surely, it is important to harmonize this with the Geneva talks. The U.S. position on the YPG needs to change. I think Trump has also understood that the pro-YPG position of the U.S. not only fails to serve the purpose, whatever it is, but also leaves the U.S. out of the game. In fact, the U.S. position was so problematic that Turkey standing firm on its principles and position allowed it to attain its goals.

Meanwhile, resignations by Syrian opposition figures before a conference of Syrian opposition groups in Saudi Arabia demonstrated the failure of that initiative. Currently, shared wisdom and real power regarding the Syrian issue center around the Astana talks and the Sochi summit. The U.S. is out of the game solely because of the YPG project.

Indeed, as Çavuşoğlu said, Iran also rejects the PYD's participation in the process as a legitimate actor. Russia is more distant on the issue, but if there is consensus, one could guess it will not insist on its position. When or if Trump agrees to it, there remains no substantial difference of opinion to start a transition period in Syria.

In my previous column and in other pieces in the past, I said the same thing and made my well-intended calls. Syria or Iraq's division and a terrorist group becoming a state-like actor in these countries are not simple issues that Ankara can ignore or tolerate. Turkey would rightfully consider it a violation of its own territorial integrity.

This position should never be interpreted as against the spirit of alliance. Indeed, what the U.S. does is against that spirit, i.e., sending arms to the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which continues to kill civilians in Turkey, trying to legitimize them, and even supporting their statehood. Turkey would never tolerate such actions, but relations with the U.S. are of top priority; therefore, it struggles to manage the process very patiently and carefully.

If one of the sour topics between Turkey and the U.S. is the YPG, the other is the issue of FETÖ and the Zarrab case, which is related to FETÖ. There is reason to believe these topics were discussed in the meeting.

'Turkey's 9/11'

The failed July 15 FETÖ coup, which left 249 citizens dead and 2,193 citizens wounded, included the bombing of Parliament and many strategic facilities, is "Turkey's 9/11." Ankara has the right to expect full support from Washington and all other NATO allies. Yet, Gülen and his staff are still going on with their operations based in a mansion in Pennsylvania, giving instructions to their men in Turkey and receiving millions of dollars in financial support for their charter schools in the U.S.

Turkey has grave doubts that FETÖ has serious influence on the Zarrab case in the U.S.

I have mentioned it before that Gülen living in Pennsylvania can be compared to Osama bin Laden living in Ankara. As Yıldırım said, Turkey offered unconditional help to the U.S. after 9/11. It sent troops to Afghanistan, while not demanding any evidence of whether it was really al-Qaeda that carried out the attacks. Alliances require mutual trust and support.

I hope that the telephone call will help bring about positive changes in the major issues that poison U.S.-Turkish relations and that they can be mended to a point of productive cooperation, since both countries and the world need this collaboration.