ANKARA – The US deputy secretary of state on Thursday lauded Turkey for its continued support to refugees. “We appreciate Turkey’s continued support to over 4 million refugees,” Wendy Sherman said on Twitter, describing her meeting with Sedat Önal, Turkey’s deputy foreign minister, in the capital Ankara as “productive.”

The importance of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, as well as Afghanistan, Syria, and regional issues were also discussed in the meeting, Sherman added.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday’s discussions between the two sides focused on the “strategic nature” of ties between Ankara and Washington.

In a tweet on Friday, the ministry said Önal and Sherman “confirmed the strategic nature of Turkey-US relations, exchanged views on regional issues & underlined importance of the fight against terrorism.”