The head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinkenmet this Saturday in Türkiye with the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to address the war in Gaza and try to clear the last obstacles to Sweden's entry into NATO.
US diplomatic sources indicated that the meeting took place in the early afternoon (local time), after Blinken, who arrived in Istanbul on Friday, met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry indicated in a statement that “the ministers spoke about the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden's accession process to NATO and bilateral and regional issues”.
Blinken begins a new tour in the Middle East in Turkey that will take him to Israel, the occupied West Bank and Qatar to defend an increase in aid to Gaza and avoid a regional escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, which began almost three months ago.
Blinken is expected to visit Israel and other countries in the region.
President Erdogan, who was absent during Blinken's previous visit to Turkey in early November, reproaches the United States for its support of Israel, which he considers a “terrorist state.”
The war was sparked by the bloody Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters, who killed 1,140 people in Israel and kidnapped another 250, according to authorities, who say 132 remain captive in Gaza.
In response, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has left 22,600 dead, mostly civilians, according to Hamas' Health Ministry.
The other reason for Antony Blinken's visit to Turkey is Sweden's accession process to NATO.
In December, the Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish Parliament approved the protocol for this country's accession to the military alliance, but this must be approved by the majority of deputies to end a saga of almost 20 months.
Turkey reproaches Sweden for its alleged permissiveness towards Kurdish activists sheltering in its territory and uses its veto power to also negotiate the acquisition of 40 American F-16 fighters and modernization equipment for its aircraft.
*With AFP
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