US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Turkey for the first time in his tenure and will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It is reported by “European truth“.
The visit of the Secretary of State was announced in advance. At present, he has already met and held a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The main topic of Blinken’s visit was the devastating earthquake, as a result of which more than 41 thousand people were confirmed dead in Turkey alone, and the provision of assistance to Turkey to overcome the consequences. Cavusoglu told Anadolu news agency that they visited the disaster-stricken province of Hatay together.
At a joint briefing, Mevlut Cavusoglu raised the issue of purchasing additional F-16 fighters and easing US sanctions against Turkey – which Washington imposed after Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 system. Erdogan has been trying to resolve this issue for more than a year, and expert circles believe that this, among other things, can be the subject of bargaining with the United States in order for Turkey to finally stopped blocking Sweden and Finland from joining NATO.
“For Ankara, the combination of the issue of purchasing F-16 aircraft from the United States with certain conditions is unacceptable. Our hands should not be tied. We also expect the soonest lifting of all sanctions against Turkey,” he was quoted as saying. Anadolu.
He also reproached the United States for “fighting ISIS terrorists with the support of other terrorists – PKK / YPG” and assured that Ankara “will not allow and does not allow” circumvention of sanctions against Russia through Turkey.
Blinken, for his part, noted that the ability of Turkey and the United States to act together is important to the United States and that Washington understands Turkey’s concerns about security on its southern border with Syria.
