U.S. President Joe Biden will host Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on May 9, marking the Turkish leader’s first bilateral visit to Washington.
Ties between NATO partners, which had been strained for years due to disputes on a variety of topics, have improved after Ankara confirmed Sweden’s NATO membership request in January, after a 20-month wait that had frustrated Washington.
Ties between NATO partners, which had been strained for years due to disputes on a variety of topics, have improved after Ankara confirmed Sweden’s NATO membership request in January, after a 20-month wait that had frustrated Washington.
However, tensions linger, particularly in northern Syria, where US soldiers are aligned with Kurdish insurgents whom Ankara considers terrorists.
Washington has also pressured Ankara to do more to block commodities crossing to Russia that it claims are being used in Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
On Thursday and Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasar Guler also met the US delegation.
Reports say that Biden and Erdogan will also likely discuss the Israel-Hamas war amid strongly critical remarks by Erdogan of Israel’s actions – and also defence industry cooperation including Turkey’s recently-approved purchase of US F-16 fighter jets.
