Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan will visit the United States on May 9, a Turkish security official said on Friday, setting the stage for his first White House meeting during the Biden Administration.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan © TNA
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan will visit the United States on May 9, a Turkish security official said on Friday, setting the stage for his first White House meeting during the Biden Administration.
The Washington visit would be Erdogan's first since 2019 when he met then-president Donald Trump, with whom he enjoyed good personal ties. Since President Joe Biden's 2020 election, Ankara has sought another face-to-face meeting.
Ties between the NATO allies, long strained by differences on a range of issues, have thawed since Ankara ratified Sweden's NATO membership bid in January, following a 20-month delay that had caused frustration in Washington.
Yet strains persist, including over northern Syria, where U.S. forces are allied with Kurdish militants that Ankara deems terrorists. Washington has also pressed Ankara to do more to halt goods transiting to Russia that it says are used in Moscow's war effort in Ukraine.
The official did not provide any further information on the visit, but said Turkey's top intelligence official Ibrahim Kalin will meet with members of the U.S. House of Representatives for talks on the planned visit and other bilateral issues.
On Thursday and Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasar Guler also met the U.S. delegation.
There was no immediate comment from Washington or the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on the visit.
Analysts say that Biden and Erdogan will also likely discuss the Israel-Hamas war - amid strongly critical remarks by Erdogan of Israel's actions - and also defence industry cooperation including Turkey's recently-approved purchase of U.S. F-16 fighter jets.
Reporting by Ece Toksabay
Turkey wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria after repeated Israeli attacks on military sites there undermined the new government's ability to deter threats, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Friday.
Turkish police have detained 11 people as part of an investigation into social media calls for an economic boycott backed by the opposition following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, state media reported on Thursday.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria overnight, declaring the attacks a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus as it accused their Turkish allies on Thursday of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
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