For his part, Anthony Blinken reported on this particular issue that The US administration of Joe Biden supports the sale of F-16s to Turkey. As he pointed out, the Biden administration is in the “national and security interests” to modernize Ankara’s existing F-16s, as well as sell new ones to Turkey. NoteIVAnyway What, While the White House is in contact with Congress on the matter, it cannot set a specific timeline.

NATO, Sweden, Finland

Regarding Sweden and Finland’s requests for NATO membership, Cavusoglu said he had discussed with his American counterpart what Ankara expects from Stockholm and Helsinki, adding that negotiations with the two countries are ongoing. According to him, all NATO parties must convince Sweden to take concrete steps to solve Ankara’s problems.

For my part, Anthony Blinken noted that Finland and Sweden had already taken concrete steps in relation to the memorandum they had signed with Turkey, and pointed out that NATO enlargement was not a bilateral issue, moves in the direction of escalating Washington’s pressure on Ankara.

The head of American diplomacy also noted that the US appreciates the positive steps being taken to improve Turkey’s relations with Greece and Armenia.

Earthquake in Turkey

The Turkish Foreign Minister thanked his American counterpart for the assistance provided by Washington after earthquakeand Anthony Blinken said the US will support Turkey for as long as it takes.

However, Mevlut Cavusoglu noted that in order to improve US-Turkish relations and called for the lifting of US sanctions on Turkey’s defense industryAt the same time, A. Blinken notes that Washington and Ankara they disagree on every issuehowever, relations between the two countries are resilient in the face of challenges.

War in Ukraine

About the war in UkraineMevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey does not export Russia products that can be used in the defense industry. According to him, Ankara has taken measures to prevent possible sanctions violations in Moscow.

For his part, Anthony Blinken said Turkey’s “clear voice” in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty is critical.

Blinken in Athens

It is recalled that after Turkey – and against the background of the “truce”, a turning point in Greek-Turkish relations after the earthquakes – Anthony Blinken will visit Greece. Blinken’s original plan for the visit included a series of exhortations and advice to Athens to avoid a further escalation of Greek-Turkish relations in the pre-election period, while between Ankara and Washington, as their president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be taking a hard “anti-American” line. for which he is so popular among conservative AKP voters.

In Athens, they positively consider that A. Blinken will come after he completes his program in Ankara. Will he get any idea about the electoral orientation of T. Erdogan and, of course, decide to share it with the Prime Minister, whom he will meet in the afternoon at the Maximos Palace, shortly before the dinner to be held in his honor, in the presence of foreign ministers affairs of Nikos Dendias and the national defense of Nikos Panagiotopoulos, this will be seen today. Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s face-to-face meeting with the US Foreign Secretary ahead of the enlarged lunch will feature a most substantive discussion.

From Athens, attention falls on the Greek-Turkish and numerous aspects of the excellent relations between Greece and the United States in recent years, but the war in Ukraine remains the priority of American diplomacy at the moment.

The centerpiece of Blinken’s visit is the start on Tuesday morning of the 4th Strategic Dialogue with N. Dendias and, of course, the discussion of the updated protocol of the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), which allowed the US and NATO to maintain open support for the eastern wing through Alexandroupolis NATO without the stress of not being able to send military supplies and personnel across the straits.

The prospect of further strengthening defense relations (F-35) in any case makes the MDCA a useful tool that could lead to additional investments such as those already made in the Larissa and Souda airbases, the Souda naval base and the port of Alexandroupoli.

^{According to REUTERS}