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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Donald Trump had their first telephone call late Tuesday, a highly anticipated conversation in which Erdogan was expected to press the new U.S. leader to reject Pentagon proposals to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria and to quickly extradite a Turkish cleric exiled in Pennsylvania and regarded by Turkey as an enemy of the state.

Trump may have preferred to change the subject.

Meeting either demand could be problematic for the administration, analysts said, testing a relationship between the two men that for months has been filled with high hopes and mutual admiration.

A brief White House statement said the two discussed their "shared commitment to combatting terrorism in all its forms." It said that Trump "reiterated U.S. support to Turkey as a strategic partner and NATO ally, and welcomed Turkey's contributions" to the campaign against the Islamic State.

During the U.S. presidential campaign, Trump referred in glowing terms to Erdogan's handling of a failed coup attempt that shook Turkey last summer. He spoke optimistically about the bilateral relationship, telling the New York Times that he hoped Turkey "can do a lot" about the Islamic State.

In the same interview, Trump declined to criticize Erdogan for a campaign of mass arrests and dismissals that followed the attempted coup. "I think it's very hard for us to get involved in other countries when we don't know what we are doing and we can't see straight in our own country," he said.

Erdogan hailed Trump's election, quickly extended an invitation to visit Turkey and even praised Trump for putting a reporter "in his place" during a news conference a few weeks ago. More recently, the Turkish president has avoided condemning Trump's ban on travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries - despite the fact that Erdogan is the Islamist leader of a Muslim-majority country who has spoken out forcefully in the past against perceived anti-Muslim bias.

When it comes to Turkey's most urgent demands, however, it may be difficult for Trump to show much flexibility. The Pentagon is still weeks away from completing a Trump-ordered 30-day review of its strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Top U.S. military commanders had pushed former President Barack Obama's administration for months to directly arm Kurdish fighters in northern Syria for a final assault on the city of Raqqa, the militants' de facto capital. Turkey has long warned that it considers the Syrian Kurds to be part of Turkey's own Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which both Turkey and the United States have labeled a terrorist group.

Obama deferred the decision on the Kurds to Trump, while noting that such plans depended on a quick determination.

Trump's advisers have not ruled out the military plan but have asked the Pentagon to explore other options, including the possibility of adding Turkish troops to an Arab force that would be aided by an increased U.S. military presence in Syria.

Trump also may have difficulty with Erdogan's request that the United States extradite the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the coup attempt. Turkish officials were encouraged when Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, published an article on Election Day calling Gulen a "radical" and saying the United States "should not provide him safe haven."

A decision on whether Turkish evidence is strong enough to merit extradition rests with the Justice Department. Even if it recommends such a move, the final decision must be made by a U.S. federal court, where Gulen can contest extradition and appeal if he loses, a process that could take months, if not years.

Gulen has denied playing any role in the attempted coup.

Semih Idiz, a Turkish political analyst and columnist who writes for the al-Monitor news site, said Turkey has left "too many unanswered questions" about its proposed alternative to the Kurdish fighters, including how many Turkish troops would need to be mobilized to replace them.

Even so, any demands made on Tuesday's phone call could aid Erdogan. "There is public opinion that has to be fed," Idiz said. "They have to appear to be pushing this to the limit."

DeYoung reported from Washington. Adam Entous in Washington contributed to this report.

Originally posted here:
Trump has first phone call with Turkey's Erdogan - Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON/ANKARA Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call overnight to act jointly against Islamic State in the Syrian towns of al-Bab and Raqqa, both controlled by the militants, Turkish presidency sources said on Wednesday.

The two leaders discussed issues including a safe zone in Syria, the refugee crisis and the fight against terror, the sources said. They also said Erdogan had urged the United States not to support the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Trump spoke about the two countries' "shared commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms" and welcomed Turkey's contributions to the fight against Islamic State, the White House said in a statement, but it gave no further details.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of U.S.-backed militias, started a new phase of its campaign against Islamic State in Raqqa on Saturday.

Turkey, a NATO ally and part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, has repeatedly said it wants to be part of the operation to liberate Raqqa but does not want the YPG, which is part of the SDF alliance, to be involved.

Erdogan's relations with former U.S. President Barack Obama were strained by U.S. support for the YPG militia, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization and an extension of Kurdish militants waging an insurgency inside Turkey.

The Turkish army and Syrian rebel groups it supports are meanwhile fighting Islamic State in a separate campaign around al-Bab, northeast of the city of Aleppo. Ankara has complained in the past about a lack of U.S. support for that campaign.

The offices of both leaders said Trump had reiterated U.S. support for Turkey "as a strategic partner and NATO ally" during the phone call on Tuesday.

The Turkish sources said new CIA Director Mike Pompeo would visit Turkey on Thursday to discuss the YPG, and battling the network of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of orchestrating a July coup attempt.

Turkey has been frustrated by what it sees as Washington's reluctance to hand over Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

There was no immediate confirmation from Washington of Pompeo's visit.

(Reporting by Washington newsroom, Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk in Ankara; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Louise Ireland)

PARIS Conservative French presidential candidate Francois Fillon appealed to voters on Wednesday via a newspaper column to back his campaign, trying to claw back support after losing his place as frontrunner over accusations of fake jobs for his family.

BUCHAREST Romania's Social Democrat government survived a no-confidence motion by the centre-right opposition in parliament on Wednesday with ruling coalition partners abstaining from the vote.

LONDON The British government does not believe there should be a second referendum on Scottish independence, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said when asked about a report it was preparing contingency plans for one.

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Erdogan, Trump agree to act jointly against Islamic State in Syria: Turkish sources - Reuters

Turkey and Ethiopia are determined to wipe out the tumor" of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FET), President Recep Tayyip Erdoan said Tuesday.

Ethiopia is our friend who sees the criminal face of FET, which poses a great threat to humanity," Erdoan said, referring to the group Ankara holds responsible for last July's coup attempt in Turkey, which left 248 people martyred. In this regard, we are taking steps within the alliance.

I would like to express this point in particular. After the July 15 coup attempt, Ethiopia was one of the first countries to explain its support and solidarity to us."

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome, Erdogan underlined Turkey's strategic partnership with the east African state, particularly in the economic sphere.

Hopefully, we will begin negotiations on preferential trade agreements very soon in line with this objective," he said.

Georgian Ministry of Education has canceled Saturday the license of the school that is known to be linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FET) in Batumi. Sahin Primary and High Schools' license was cancelled due to some serious deficiencies such as student enrollment system, officials from the country's Education Ministry told Anadolu Agency, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking with the media. The officials said the formal decision on the cancellation of the school's license would be issued within 10 working days.According to Georgian law, when a school's license is canceled, educational procedures are suspended from the day the decision is formally issued.By the decision of the Ministry, the students will be transferred to various educational institutions.It is known that there were seven FET linked schools in Georgia, as the Georgian Education Quality Improvement Center did not renew the licence of one of those schools located in capital Tbilisi at the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year.According to Turkey's government, FET leader Fetullah Gulen -- a resident of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania -- masterminded the July 15 defeated coup, which left at least 248 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.Ankara has also said FET is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary. The terrorist group is also known for its network of hundreds of schools around the world.So far, over 80 FET organizations operating abroad, including schools and training centers, have been shut down or transferred to the Turkish government.

Teshome congratulated Turkey for the courage and determination shown in defending democracy on July 15. He pledged to transfer schools linked to FET to Turkey's Maarif Foundation.

Turkey's head of Presidency of Religious Affairs Mehmet Grmez has said that the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FET) headed by Fetullah Glen has nothing to do with providing free education to the children of poor families. "The terrorist organization's only target is that it's known to be used as tools to reach the children of the richest families of the country, provide them education and intervene in the politics and make them become a part of this systematic malignity," Grmez said. "The representatives of the global malignity focused on the Middle East and Balkans along with Europe to serve their dirty targets," Grmez said. "The terrorist organization has been conducting its activities in Africa, and the geography where the Soviet Union collapsed to take advantage of the situation there," he said.Pakistan requests help from Turkey against FET Turkish officials repeatedly warned countries of the threat of the FET formation in many countries, which may trigger possible coup bids there, similar to the recent coup attempt in Turkey. The FET is known to have 24 schools across Pakistan; six of them in Islamabad, five of them in Lahore, three of them in Karachi, three in Quetta, two in Peshawar, two in Multan, and one each in Haripur, Hyderabad and Amshoro.The 'FET Empire' in Kyrgyzstan Another country that FET has the largest number of schools in is Kyrgyzstan where the terrorist organization is known to have 23 schools. Also, another FET center is the African country Chad, which has dealt a blow to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization that attempted the coup in Turkey on July 15. A violent coup bid was witnessed on July 15, mostly in Turkey's cities, when the terrorist group headed by Fetullah Glen attempted to topple the democratically-elected government. Turkey's government says the deadly plot, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,100 others, was organized by followers of U.S.- based Fetullah Glen.

He heralded his meeting with Erdoan as fruitful and productive" and said they had exchanged views on wide range of issues.

We have recognized that additional effort is needed to further strengthen and deepen cooperation through economic interdependence by expanding trade and investments," he told reporters.

We discussed how to take new actions to further enhance Turkish investment in Ethiopia in much needed areas of infrastructure, manufacturing and energy."

Calling on Turkish investors to come forward, Teshome said he wanted Turkey to be the leading foreign investor in Ethiopia."

Both countries were leading the fight against terrorism, he added. We are partners in the struggle to fight terrorism, albeit in different regions," Teshome said.

Continued here:
Erdoan congratulates Ethiopia on tackling FET 'tumor' - Yeni afak English

If youre an SEO company or someone who is just really good at SEO, I want to save you some time and let you know you may find this article a little too basic.

If youre a local business who is confused by SEO and looking for some simple advice that works, this article was written specifically for you.

This is the first of several articles on SEO written for small local business. Theres a ton of really good SEO training out there. But most of it is catch all training that is often too general.

My goal with these articles is to help the Main Street businesses out there who serve their local community. So if youre an attorney, dentist, moving company, accountant, restaurant or businesses like them; read on. This was meant for you.

SEO That Gets You Customers Starts Here

The secret to the success of your Search Engine Optimization and entire search marketing strategy begins with keyword selection.

Commonly known as keyword research, this is pivotal to get right. If you get it wrong, everything you do later will either not work effectively or flat out not work at all.

If you plan to do your own SEO, getting help with keyword research can be money well spent. You really need to have this done well.

Ive had the opportunity to perform a keyword audit on many websites. And one of the most common things I find is that businesses are just targeting the wrong keywords.

SEO Is Not Easy

If youre doing your own SEO or even hiring an SEO company to do it for you, one thing you will learn is it is time-consuming and can be technically difficult.

Googles algorithm has changed dramatically in the past few years. The Algorithm is a complex system that decides in real time what the search results will be. It sifts through mountains of data and matches sites that are stored in Googles database, also called the Index, to they keyword. It then presents the results in order of what it believes the importance to be.

First, you need to make sure that your website is in the Index for the keyword you want to appear in search results for. Then you need to make sure your website is the most relevant and authoritative of all the other sites competing for the same keyword. No small task.

But To Make It More Difficult

They update their algorithm all the time and it makes it much harder to do SEO. You have to stay one step ahead of the ever changing way Google makes its decisions.

Not only does Google change, users change too. Users are more sophisticated. They cant be fooled into clicking on a search result simply because its on the first page. So how you display in the search results is more important than ever. And your content needs to be better than ever so that when they do click, they want to continue reading it.

And to make it even worse there are more competitors vying for the same keywords than ever. And new competition joins in all the time. Just think about how much local competition you have. They all probably have websites and are trying to be on page 1 of Google just like you.

Webcast, February 16th: Build Your Growth Roadmap in a Day

Google makes changes, your prospects behavior changes, your competitive landscape changes.

What has not changed is:

1: Theres still only a limited number of spots on page 1 of Google. So you need to be smarter and work harder than everyone else. If you dont, you cant compete. And

2: Search runs off keywords. Whether these are typed or spoken, the search engine still needs keywords to understand what it is the person searching wants.

While theyre getting much better at deciding what they want, Google still needs a question asked first in order to give you an answer. And this is the best way to think about your keywords. Think of them as questions your prospective customers are asking.

Things like:

Who are the best IT professional in New York

Or

I need a commercial mover in Danbury CT

Or

Find Stamford CT Dentist reviews

These are keywords. And to compete on the search engines, this is your first and most important step to success: identify the best keywords.

This Is The Best Way To Find Great Keywords

Before you begin, create a spreadsheet to dump these keywords into as you uncover them. Dont worry about organizing it. Dont worry about whether you have duplicate keywords. Just brain dump them into this spreadsheet.

Step 1: Ask

Forget fancy techniques. Forget keyword tools. Forget anything you may have learned and start here first.

Start with your customers. Go ask every single one of them how they found you. If they say Google, ask what they typed.

If they didnt find you on the search engines, ask them what they would have typed to find you.

Ask everyone you meet for the next 2 weeks what keyword theyd use if they were looking for your service. Ask your friends, family, customers, random strangers, people in your business community, competitors. Ask anyone and everyone.

Step 2: What you do

List all your services. If you are an IT Solutions Provider, you might list things like:

Make sure to put all these services into your spreadsheet.

Step 3: Solutions

List all the problems your products or services solve:

Once again, list all these solutions to your prospect and customer problems into your keyword research spreadsheet. Youve now got something really cooking here

Heres What To Do Next

There is a lot more to proper SEO than I am covering here. The goal of this article is to give you a great start to easy keyword research without overwhelming you.

From here, you can take this list and dig deeper into keyword research. You can discover more keywords based off of the list you just created. You can research what your competitors are doing. You can uncover the possible search volume and competitiveness of these keywords.

Or you can just start creating useful content for your website or blog that answers these questions. Even without worrying about things like keyword density, title tags, meta descriptions and all the other little SEO nuances, you can create powerful content with this data.

If you create content from here, just speak to your customer, keep it very simple (no techie talk) and make it at least 500 words. If you do that, youre going to do more for your SEO than most.

In upcoming articles, I will share ways to refine your research and organize your strategy for solid SEO. So come back next week after youve spent time asking and placing what you find in your spreadsheet.

Continue reading here:
A Simple Keyword Research Technique For Small Business SEO - Business 2 Community

Advertising and marketing have been consistently evolving, innovating and improving. New ideas, strategies, tools and choices of media are consistently being bloomed at a rapid pace especially when it comes to digital. Gone are the days where mere impressions or social media likes determine the very success of a digital campaign. In other words, popularity and awareness does not translate to revenue actual conversion does.

Very often, digital has been misperceived as an entirely new platform that generates magical instant results and is much superior compared with traditional media (thats up for debate). Many marketers neglected marketing fundamentals entirely by adopting irrelevant digital trends and clichs, just because competitors and other brands seemed successful doing it. At the end of the day, digital is just another media, but a rather modern and advanced one which consists of tools that traditional media would like to have but it is still media.

By neglecting marketing fundamentals, along with the core value of what their respective brand represents, mimicking winning trends just to drive unprofi table responses will only dilute the overall brand experience in the long run and obviously, it will only contribute to low sales conversion rates. Instead, starting off with the right mindset is a great start to realise actual goals and identify specifi c responsibility for each digital media to refl ect the overall integrated marketing mix.

Regardless of the traditional push strategy or search marketings direct response pull strategy, each media must be pathed to be consistent and seamless across the entire consumer journey. The biggest mistake would be implementing standalone digital campaigns that are not consistent with offl ine campaigns, just to target audiences within the digital market share. This is a misconception that the digital target audiences much differs with the offline audiences. There are over 21 million internet users in Malaysia, 81% of which access the internet via smartphones daily these are the very same audiences that access both offl ine and online media. In other words, they are the same group of people!

We all call it the digital era, but I call it the transparent era. In digital, every possible customer interaction, response and conversion are well recorded. For internet marketing agencies like us? There is nowhere to hide data and fi gures will never lie. With the adoption of a data-driven focus, it enhances marketers commitment in delivering fi gures-based performances which translates to tangible results revenue.

From a performance marketing point of view, marketers that are able to identify actual cost per-lead (CPL) and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) have the edge to signifi cantly reduce marketing costs and realigned investments into profi table marketing efforts conversion optimisation (CRO). The right critical marketing decisions will result in effi ciency and effectiveness, and it will subside the overall dependency of cost reductions in other internal departments manufacturing, R&D, HR, logistics, etc. In a holistic sense, it will greatly position the importance and impact of marketing.

As we progress towards 2017, we tend to hunger for the latest digital offerings to stay competitive, and in the hope that implementing new innovations will bring drastic improvements. With such a constant shift of digital objectives, are we really meeting our goals? Its best to take a wider view of past campaigns and optimise it to its fullest potential.

Digital rarely does mistakes, but humans do who knows what we have missed? After all, digital is not a sprint, its an effort-driven marathon just like traditional marketing.

The author of this article is Joseph Ting, CEO, Locus-T Online.

View original post here:
The Futurist: The right mindset for digital marketing - Marketing Interactive