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Article snippet: MORE and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a chummy meeting at the White House on Wednesday just a month after they ignited a bipartisan firestorm in Washington over Ankara’s invasion of northern Syria. In a meeting overshadowed by the drama of the House’s first public impeachment hearing, even the joint press conference between the two leaders started with a question about the Democratic-led hearings at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. “You’re talking about the witch hunt,” Trump said, adding that he didn’t watch the proceedings. “I hear it’s a joke,” Trump continued, saying he was told the witnesses testifying Wednesday relied on “thirdhand information.” Trump faced high stakes in the meeting with Erdoğan that was opposed by Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans. Lawmakers in both parties have been fuming since Trump, following a phone call with Erdoğan, decided in October to withdraw U.S. troops from northeast Syria. The withdrawal paved the way for Erdoğan to move forward with a long-threatened offensive against Syrian Kurdish forces. Ankara considers the Kurds terrorists connected to a Turkish Kurdish insurgency, but the United States relied on the Kurds to fight ISIS in Syria. Trump has since reversed his plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria. He stressed Wednesday that “we left troops behind only for the oil.” Defense Secretary MORE (Iowa) and Rick Scott (Fla.). “The purpose of this meeting is to have an American civics lesson fo... Link to the full article to read more