ANKARA — While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meetings in Turkey achieved no breakthrough on Sweden’s NATO membership or the Turkish bid to buy new F-16s from the United States, the two sides expanded the conversation on regional issues and NATO's role.
Arriving in Turkey on Saturday, the first leg of his latest Middle East tour, Blinken was hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan. The high-level presidential meeting with Blinken stood in contrast to the US secretary of state's visit in November when Erdogan did not grant him an audience.
Two months since that visit, the United States and Turkey are inching closer to a deal that would see Ankara ratifying Sweden's NATO membership in return for its acquisition of 40 F-16 fighter jets.
Blinken’s meetings in Istanbul focused on efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading, the reconstruction of Gaza, the impasse over Sweden’s accession to the NATO alliance and Turkey's F-16 purchase.
