Blinken meets with Erdogan and Kyriakos, with the war in Gaza in the background

First modification: 01/07/2024 – 00:50

3 min

“We are mainly focused on preventing the spread of the conflict in Gaza,” Blinken said after meeting with Mitsotakis on the Greek island of Crete, the second stop, after Istanbul, on the tour of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

“One of the biggest concerns is the border between Israel and Lebanon (…) It is clear that Israel does not want an escalation, but it must defend itself,” he said, referring to the situation in northern Israel, attacked from Lebanon by the group Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah.

“We want to make sure that countries in the region use the ties and relationships they have to make sure we don't see an escalation,” added the head of US diplomacy. In this context, he assured that Turkey has already prepared to “use the relationships it has with critical actors in the region.”

On the other hand, he revealed that he addressed with his interlocutors the precarious situation of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip: “We are analyzing what we can do to maximize the protection of civilians in Gaza,” he assured.

Blinken's fourth trip to the Middle East during the war

The context of the war in Gaza will mark the visits to Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt that the head of American diplomacy plans to make until next Thursday.

This is the fourth trip to the Middle East since the Palestinian Islamist group carried out the unprecedented terrorist attack in southern Israel on October 7, and Israel began a war it claims to be against Hamas, although its army has killed dozens of thousands of civilians, for which he faces a lawsuit for genocide in the International Court of Justice.

Washington's envoy, who had landed on Friday night in Istanbul, met this morning with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, before being received by Erdogan at the Ottoman palace of Vahdettin, on the Asian side of Istanbul.

According to a statement from the spokesperson for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, in that meeting the Secretary of State “emphasized the need to prevent the conflict from spreading”, as well as to “guarantee the release of the hostages” and “expand humanitarian aid (to the Gaza Strip)”.

Blinken advocated working “for a broader and lasting regional peace that guarantees Israel's security and moves toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

The position of the United States in the conflict has been ambiguous, since although its diplomacy has expressed on several occasions its willingness to protect civilians, the country has opposed a ceasefire in the war in the Security Council of the UN and the Government has sold – even without approval from the US Congress – weapons for millions of dollars to Israel to continue the war.

For its part, the Turkish Anadolu agency indicated, citing diplomatic sources, that Fidan agreed that negotiations should begin as soon as possible to achieve “a two-state solution” and improve humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. The Turkish minister also highlighted the need for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

Sweden's entry into NATO and arms for Türkiye and Greece

He insisted, on the other hand, that Washington must unblock the sale of F-16 fighter-bombers to Ankara, paralyzed by the North American Congress, recalling in this context that the Turkish Parliament plans to decide this month whether to approve Sweden's integration into NATO.

Erdogan had already warned in recent months that the ratification processes of Sweden's entry into the military pact and the sale of the F-16s must advance simultaneously.

Greece also hopes that the United States will sell it fighter aircraft, but of the F-35 model, recalled the Greek Foreign Minister, Yorgos Yerapetritis, before Blinken's arrival in Crete.