Turkish MPs make Washington charm offensive as Ankara-Moscow ties strain
A Turkish delegation arrives in Washington to find a way forward for US-Turkish relations.
WASHINGTON — As Russian-Turkish relations have been strained over the Moscow-backed Syrian offensive in Idlib that has killed a dozen Turkish soldiers and sent 800,000 Syrians fleeing toward the Turkish border since December, both Turkey and the United States have looked for opportunities to improve ties.
A delegation of Turkish parliamentarians visited Washington this week to meet with US lawmakers, journalists and experts, and express hopes that the allies of 70 years could get past congressional threats to impose sanctions for Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system and invasion into northeastern Syria last fall to push Syrian Kurdish forces away from its border.
