Noisy US welcome as Erdogan defends hardline stance

US President Barack Obama met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington, the White House said, amid tensions over press freedom and the war in Syria. Having previously stated the pair were unlikely to hold sit-down talks -- a decision widely perceived as a snub by Washington -- the White House said the two men had in fact met on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit. The absence of a presidential meeting on Erdogan's trip to the US capital had been glaring.