Donald Trump: Erdoğan is my friend and someone I respect.

With only a few days left until taking office, the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, responded to a journalist's question about President Erdoğan by saying, "Erdoğan is my friend and someone I respect. I believe he respects me as well."

Making striking statements, Trump answered a journalist's question about whether the U.S. would withdraw troops from Syria by saying, "I'm not going to tell you whether I will withdraw troops from Syria."

Donald Trump stated that Turkey is carrying out strategic plans in Syria, saying, "Thanks to Turkey's strategic steps, Iran and Russia have weakened in Syria."

Regarding Israeli hostages, Trump said, "If the hostages are not released before I take office, there will be hell to pay."