UPDATE – Turkish president receives Trump’s senior advisor

ADDS WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT</p> <p>By Merve Ozlem Cakir</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior advisor.</p> <p>Erdogan discussed economic relations with Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, for around two hours in a meeting that was closed to the media, according to presidential sources.</p> <p>Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who also attended the meeting, said on Twitter they discussed ways to increase economic cooperation between the two countries.</p> <p>Kushner is part of a delegation currently on a seven-day tour of the Middle East that includes Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook.</p> <p>Later, in a statement, the White House said they discussed increasing cooperation between the U.S. and Turkey and the Trump administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. </p> <p>&quot;Additionally, they discussed ways to improve the condition of the entire region through economic investment,&quot; it said. </p> <p>On Tuesday, Kushner met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his father King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in Riyadh.</p> <p>Kushner's tour reportedly aims to brief U.S. regional allies about Trump's so-called &quot;deal of the century&quot; – a backchannel plan to reach a peace settlement between the Palestinians and Israel.</p> <p>*Servet Gunerigok in Washington contributed to this story