FM Çavuşoğlu, Blinken discuss Türkiye-US defense coop, other topics

Türkiye

31 May 2023 09:10
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Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the recent attack on the Turkish House (Türkevi) in New York City, defense cooperation and the NATO accession of Sweden in a phone call on Tuesday, TurkicWorld reports citing Daily Sabah.

Blinken called Çavuşoğlu to congratulate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on his presidential and parliamentary re-election victory, diplomatic sources said.

The two ministers also discussed preparations for the upcoming Strategic Mechanism meeting, cooperation in the defense industry, as well as the Istanbul grain deal.

Several sticking points, largely Ankara’s concerns over the harboring and tolerance of PKK/YPG and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) terrorists in Sweden, have held up the country's membership process. Türkiye demands their extradition and effective cooperation against these groups to greenlight Stockholm’s bid.

On Oct. 31, 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden met in Rome and agreed to establish a strategic mechanism that promotes high-level dialogue and addresses issues on which Türkiye and the U.S. do not fully agree, along with issues they are working on.

During the April 4 visit of Nuland to Ankara, the Türkiye-U.S. Strategic Mechanism was launched.

On May, 18, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken met in New York for the first meeting of the Turkiye-U.S. Strategic Mechanism "to reaffirm their strong cooperation as partners and NATO Allies," according to a joint statement from Türkiye and U.S.

Türkiye-U.S. relations have been strained in recent years due to the latter's cooperation with the PYD-YPG/PKK terrorist organization in Syria, its stance toward the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), disagreements over Türkiye's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense system and Washington's sanctions against Türkiye.

The sale of U.S. weapons to Türkiye became contentious after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 defense missile systems. The deal triggered U.S. sanctions as well as Türkiye’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program.