WASHINGTON — Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim met with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House for over an hour today to try to clear the air over a series of issues that have quickly strained relations between Ankara and the Donald Trump administration. Those irritants include: Turkey’s request for the extradition of Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose movement Turkey considers behind the coup attempt of July 15, 2016; the United States working in Syria with predominantly Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); the jailing of dozens of journalists and an American pastor in Turkey; and most recently, visa restrictions between the two countries.

The White House said Pence and Yildirim hoped to “usher in a new chapter” in US-Turkish relations.

“The leaders expressed hope that their meeting would help to usher in a new chapter in US-Turkey relations and agreed on the need for constructive dialogue, as friends and Allies, on bilateral challenges,” the White House said in a readout of the Pence-Yildirim 80-minute meeting.

“They highlighted the United States' and Turkey's mutual interest in stability and security in the Middle East and agreed to further intergovernmental consultations toward that end,” the readout continued. “The Vice President also thanked the Prime Minister for Turkey's contributions to global security and the fight to defeat [the Islamic State], and he underscored the US commitment to stand with Turkey against the PKK and other terrorist threats. The Vice President expressed deep concern over the arrests of American citizens, Mission Turkey local staff, journalists, and members of civil society under the state of emergency and urged transparency and due process in the resolution of their cases."