Türkiye, US to hold strategic talks in Washington: Fidan

ANTALYA

The Turkish and American top diplomats will meet in the coming days in Washington as part of the Strategic Mechanism, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said, informing that all issues concerning bilateral ties and regional conflicts will be on the agenda.

At a press conference on the closure of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Fidan said he will go to the U.S. this week upon the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His visit is expected to take place on March 7 and 8.

“We are going to discuss a wide variety of topics,” he stated, recalling that the Strategic Mechanism covers not only security issues but also bilateral cooperation in all fields, including energy, trade, etc.

Türkiye and the U.S. established the Strategic Mechanism in late 2021 upon the initiative of two presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Joe Biden. The mechanism meets regularly at the level of ministers and deputy ministers.

Fidan’s visit to Washington comes as both sides are willing to enter a new phase in bilateral ties after Türkiye approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO and, in return, the U.S. greenlighted the sale of 40 new F-16s and 79 modernization kits to the former.

On a question about a potential visit of President Erdoğan to Washington D.C. upon Biden’s invitation, Fidan recalled that both countries are having elections this year, but he will discuss about it with Blinken during his talks.

‘Time for dialogue to end war in Ukraine’

Fidan, in response to a question about his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ADF, informed that they discussed the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, particularly the maritime security in the Black Sea.

“We are of the opinion that both sides have reached the limit of what they can achieve through war. We think it is time to start dialogue for a ceasefire,” Fidan said.

The Turkish minister emphasized that this does not mean the recognition of the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. “But we believe that it is time to separate recognition of occupation and sovereignty issues from ceasefire talks,” he said.

Underlining that the killing of hundreds of thousands of people and destruction of such a big country’s entire infrastructure in Europe is not a reality that one can tolerate, Fidan urged that steps must be taken to bring an end to this.

“We should get used to this idea,” added the minister.

On Syria, Fidan stressed that he agreed with Lavrov to discuss the situation in the field in another meeting as it requires more concentration.

“The issue of the return of the refugees to Syria, the need for writing a new constitution and fight against terrorism are all suspended. Progress is needed on all these issues,” he said, adding these are all connected with Türkiye’s national security.